Jonas Ezieke, Abuja
Operatives of the Intelligence Response Team of the Force Intelligence Bureau FIB-IRT Nigeria Police has arrested a middle aged man identified as Edeh Tochukwu Christian 31 a native of Nara Unateze in Nkanu East Local Government Area of Enugu State for culpable homicide after killing his older girl friend late Miss Ijeoma Phyllis 49 and carting away her car, mobile phones and other properties.
Operatives of the DCP Olatunji Disu led Police team arrested the suspect in Port Harcourt Rivers State on Wednesday November 2, 2022 after he fled from the crime scene at Lugbe in the nation’s capital to squat with a single mother who happened to be his new found lover.
Parading the suspect before newsmen at the Guzape Abuja office of the intelligence team weekend, the Police authorities said that the suspect was arrested after very credible and reliable information about the suspects movement was received by the officers after a complaint was received at their office.
The suspect who said he studied and graduated in Mass Communication from the Federal Polytechnic in Nasarawa State and resides at Abuja before the sad incident added that the act happened unintentionally on October 23,2022 at the deceased apartment after a quarrel between them at Lugbe.
He confessed to have used a pestle to perform the dastardly act on that fateful day after the lady invited him to her house on the day of the sad incident and started quarrel with him over his refusal to initiate marriage proposals with her and sundry issues.
According to him, he got into a relationship with the older lady after they met at an even during the Covid-19 lockdown around March 2020 and they started visiting each other and the lady quickly started pressing him to marry her and gifted him a High Lander jeep to facilitate the union.
He further said that he was unemployed when the relationship started and had to go back to school to read phonology before he later found a job at a private school as an administor and teaching staff before the killing of the late lover.
On how the dastardly act was perfected, he confessed that on that fateful day after he visited her and she asked him to eat and he refused having resolved to be avoiding her due to her qurels and character, she then demanded that he should return the car gift and when he didn’t, she went for the pestle to attack him.
He added that it was when he woke up and found her with the pestle and he grabbed the object and overpowered her and hit her with it and the deceased immediately fell down and started shooting somebody help me! somebody help me!! somebody help me!!! and he fled the scene.
Upon interrogation by the media team of the Police team on why he allegedly made away with her Toyota Corolla, I-pone, mobile phones and other personal effects of the deceased before he was arrested by the Police, he said that it was because he didn’t want her to know where he is adding that he didn’t envisage her death due to the assault.
He added that he quickly sold the Toyota Corolla car for one million and seven hundred thousand naira (N1,700.000) two days after the incident before he was arrested by the Police team.
Moreover, the elder sister of the deceased who pleaded anonymity on her testimony said that it was after the Caretaker of the compound the deceased rented house called and informed her of her disappearance that she went to the Lugbe Police division with her husband to lodge a compaint on the crime.
She also said that it was herself, the Police and some friends of the deceased that forced her house open and recovered her decomposing body wrapped with rug carpet from her sitting room before taking her body to the morgue.
She said that the deceased who is her blood sister was an easy going person and loveable person adding that she wants justice to be served on the man who killed her sister for loving him.
The Inspector-General of Police IGP Usman Alkali Baba had directed the Police authorities to ensure diligent prosecution of penetrators of all forms of violent crimes in all parts of Nigeria.
The Police authorities have said that the suspect will soon be taken to the nation’s court of law for prosecution in accordance with the dictates of the nation’s laws particularly the provisions of Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015.
