Family, friends mourn Noel Njoku, 48-year-old Nigerian delivery driver shot dead in America
Noel Njoku, the 48-year-old Nigerian driver, shot to death while delivering food in the Mitchellville area of Maryland, United States, early Thursday morning, is being mourned by his wife, children and friends as a peaceful and hardworking man.
The Prince George’s County Police Department said its officers found Njoku in a car suffering from gunshot wounds after responding to the 3700 block of Lottsford Vista Road around 12:20 am. He died a short time later at a hospital.
According to family sources, Njoku sold cars during the day and also worked as a delivery driver with DoorDash, an online food ordering and delivery company in San Francisco.
His wife, Noela Njoku, who became distressed after calling and receiving no answers from him on Thursday, went to different hospitals searching for him when she finally received a call from an officer at the University of Maryland Capital Region Medical Center breaking the news of Njoku’s death to her, a family source said.
The Nigerian became another victim of rising cases of homicide in Prince George’s County while delivering food to a home in the Mitchellville area where he was shot.
According to data from Prince Geroge’s County Police Department, the County has seen 63 homicides as of June 21, 2021, compared to 35 at the same time in 2020.
During a town hall meeting in June 2021, the County’s new police chief Malik Aziz had listed the reduction of violent crime and focus on crime prevention as some of his priorities. A month later, six people were killed and four injured in separate shootings in the County on Friday, July 30, Saturday, July 31 and Sunday, August 1, 2021.
The Washington Post reports on August 2, 2021, that at least 79 people have been killed in Prince George’s County this year, with 25 killed between June 1 and August 4.
Julie Wright, the Spokesperson of the Prince George’s County Police, told Neusroom in an email exchange that “investigators are processing the evidence that has been collected, and officers will return to the scene today.”
Wright, who described the incident as “a disturbing case”, said the Police “are all bothered by what has happened.”
Until his death, Njoku was married to Noela for 19 years, and they have four children – two daughters, 15 and 13 years old and 11-year-old twin boys, who all lived with him at their home in Springdale.
Noela told FOX 5’s Sierra Fox that her husband was a quiet, peaceful, hardworking, and caring man.
“I want his killers to come forward and tell us the reason why they took him away from me,” she told WUSA9’s Bruce Leshan.
Njoku’s known survivors include Noela, his children, and his twin brother, Martin, who lives in Nigeria.
Neusroom gathered that before moving to the U.S some decades ago, Njoku attended Mbaise Secondary School in Imo state with his twin brother Martin Njoku.
The news of his killing has left his twin brother devastated, Okechukwu Nwanguma, the Executive Director, Rule of Law and Accountability Centre, said in a Facebook post.
Emeka Oparah, the Vice President of Corporate Communications and Corporate Social Responsibility, Airtel Nigeria, Njoku’s schoolmate at Mbaise Secondary School, described him as “a good and true friend and brother.”
He said they met and became friends “way before I met his cousin, my wife.”
“A few days ago, we were discussing his plan to visit home with his entire family,” Oparah wrote in a Facebook tribute. “I’m devastated by his rather shocking and eventful end.”
Meanwhile, a family member in the U.S is organising a $30,000 fundraiser for Njoku’s widow and children. As of 4:30 am on Saturday, August 14, 2020, over $4,000 had been donated by 117 donors.
“He was the sweetest, most selfless man you could think of. With his smile so bright, how could he not make you happy or simply make your day?” Whitney Nzenwa, who organised the fundraiser, wrote on the Gofundme page
Wright, the police spox, told Neusroom that they are looking to interview anyone who may have seen anything or know anything about Njoku’s murder.
Briana Megid, the spokesperson of DoorDash, is yet to respond to questions sent to her by a Neusroom correspondent on Twitter.
