By Wilson Adekumola
The operatives of the Enugu State Police Command have arrested a 21-year-old man, Augustine Akor, for raping and strangling his 16-year-old female relative, Faith Akuji to death.
The Command’s Spokesman, DSP Daniel Ndukwe, made this known in a statement on Friday in Enugu, dukwe explaining that the incident occured on June 8 in a bush at Mpole-Ubere in the Ette community within Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area of the state.
He disclosed that the arrest of Akor on June 12 at about 9:30am was made possible by the combined efforts of police operatives serving in Igbo-Eze North Division of the Command with assistance from the Neighborhood Watch Group.
He said in the statement that, “Preliminary investigation indicates that the victim had gone missing in the evening hours of June 8, after her grandfather sent her to grind cassava in the community centre, as all efforts made to trace her whereabouts proved abortive.
“Her decomposing body was, however, found in the bush, following the arrest of the suspect.
“The suspect also confessed to having dragged the victim into the bush, and forcefully had carnal knowledge of her, until she fainted and died in the process.
“The victim’s remains, found without any lower-body cloth, were evacuated to hospital and confirmed dead by doctors on duty.”
The PPRO disclosed that the case is currently undergoing thorough investigation at the Homicide Section of the State Criminal Intelligence and Investigation Department of the Command, adding the suspect would be arraigned in court upon the conclusion of the investigation.
He said that the Commissioner of Police, Mr Ahmed Ammani, had commiserated the family and friends of the deceased victim.
Ndukwe said that the commissioner had described the act as “atrocious and unthinkable”.
“The commissioner has directed that the case be meticulously handled, concluded within recorded time, and charged to court for justice to be dispensed accordingly,” he added.
