THE FOUNDER of Mammy Market in military barracks across the country, Mrs Maria Ochefu, is dead.
Her son, Professor Yakubu Ochefu, who spoke to Punch correspondent on phone on Thursday, said that Mrs Ochefu passed away in her sleep on Tuesday, March 18, 2025.
Aged 86, she was married to the late Colonel Anthony Ochefu (rtd), who was once a military governor of old Enugu State.
In the last interview she had with Punch newspaper few years ago, Mrs Ochefu narrated how she started Mammy Market, which later became a household name in all military barracks across the country.
During the interview, she mentioned two past Heads of State, General Yakubu Gowon, and former President Muhammadu Buhari, all retired, as her customers.
Ochefu said: “Yes, Mama passed away on Tuesday in Makurdi in her sleep.
“She had been a patient at the Benue State University Teaching Hospital, Makurdi, and she would have been 87 in April this year.”
