NEWS & REPORTS

Woman called in bomb hoax to prevent husband from flying

By New York Post

Photo: Nigeriavillagesquare

A whacked-out New Jersey woman sent police rushing to Newark Airport yesterday after falsely accusing her husband of plotting to blow up a plane, authorities said.

Eunice Ukaegbu, 50, called cops about her hubby, Okieze Ukaegbu, 58, because she didn’t want him to leave the country without her, authorities said.

The couple had just gotten into a nasty fight.

“It looks like that marriage went up in flames,” a law-enforcement official quipped.

The drama began when Eunice allegedly passed along the bogus tip that her husband planned to “blow up” a Paris-bound Delta Air Lines flight.

BLOW-UP:Eunice Ukaegbu, above with husband Okieze, explains at her NJ home yesterday why she falsely told cops he was plotting to bomb a plane.

Warzer Jaff

“He told me he was going to blow up the airplane,” she told The Post last night. “I went through his suitcase — and I panicked.”

She added she thought she was doing her civic duty.

“I did what an honest citizen would do,” she said.

Eunice, who said she’s a nurse, claimed she first became worried because her husband had been acting distant.

So she tried to search his suitcase but couldn’t open it, and then called police.

“He is a little secretive,” Eunice said.

Cops first arrived at the couple’s Union, NJ, home to question Eunice.

Federal agents, who feared her husband may be a terrorist, were in tow.

The couple’s daughter overheard the ordeal, then called her father’s cellphone to alert him that cops were heading to the airport to arrest him.

Okieze arrived at the airport in a black Lexus and wearing tan pants.

Port Authority police and other law-enforcement agencies also rushed to find Okieze, who was traveling to Nigeria via Paris.

Okieze stayed at the gate until officers arrived, then calmly told cops that his wife “had an alcohol problem” and was lying, authorities said.

They took Okieze, who had already passed security, into custody at Gate B45 at around 12:15 p.m., authorities said.

Cops pulled his luggage off the aircraft, searched it with bomb-sniffing dogs, then took him away for questioning, causing him to miss his flight.

Travelers on the plane, Delta Flight 14935, did not experience a significant delay, sources said.

Eunice claims she filed an honest police report because she suspected her husband was a terrorist.

But authorities contend she’s the fiery one.

Cops have released Okieze from custody and now say they plan to charge his wife.

He later boarded a different flight and could not be reached for comment.

Public records show Eunice previously lived in Roselle Park.