He came to the U.S. in search of the American Dream, but his brutal murder has left his family living a nightmare.
Nigerian cab driver Uro Orji Ama died after being stabbed in the eye with an umbrella shortly before Father’s Day weekend.
Cops found Ama in his 2000 Mercury Grand Marquis after responding to a traffic accident in Brooklyn on Thursday, June 13, police said.
Now his five children, ranging in age from 13 to 24, are in the midst of moving from Brooklyn to Rosedale to live with close relatives. Their mother is still in Nigeria.
“There are moments where [one of the children] will shout, ‘Daddy! Why did this happen?’” said Chinedum Agwu, Ama’s sister-in-law.
A few months ago, Ama, who was 54, brought the last of his children to the U.S. in the hope of providing for a better life.
Ama was known to work odd jobs even when he was in Nigeria in order to give his children a standard of living he had never known.
“Everything he did was [for] his kids,” Agwu, 30, said. “He wanted to lay the foundation for them to grow on. Each time you called him, he was at work or going to work.”
Ama was dropping off a man and a woman when the man stabbed him through the right eye with an umbrella, piercing Ama’s brain. The cab driver lost control of his car and crashed into parked vehicles. The motive for the stabbing is unknown at this time.
Cops arrived at the scene and rushed Ama to Brookdale University Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead, authorities said.
The NYPD is offering a $12,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspects, while the
New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers is offering an additional $5,000 reward.
Ama’s body will be sent back to Nigeria to be buried. His family is still working to schedule a wake in New York.
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