By Idowu Abdullahi,
The Nigeria Police Force has explained how it arrested three siblings over the kidnap and accompanied gruesome murder of a mother of five, Mrs Janet Ogbonnaya.
It explained that the suspects who were arrested by officers attached to the Intelligence Response Unit of the force allegedly lured the deceased to their residence in Wumba District, Lokogoma, Abuja, poisoned and dumped her corpse in the building.
It was gathered that the victim, a 55yrs widow, was a Facebook friend of the suspects namely; Johnson Emmanuel – 38yrs, Gideon Emmanuel – 31yrs and Success Emmanuel – 27yrs and native of Isiekenesi, Ideato LGA of Imo State, where they were arrested after they fled Abuja where they committed the crime on May 14, 2020.
Confirming the incident, the Force Public Relations Officer, DCP Frank Mba, said the arrests of the suspects was as a result of the officers’ investigation after the Police received complaints the deceased son, Chinedu Ogbonnaya, who alleged that his mother, Mrs Janet Nnenna Ogbonnaya, a native of Ozuitem in Bende LGA of Abia State had been kidnapped and a 5-Million naira ransom was being demanded before her release from her abductors.
He noted that after the complaints, the officers began their painstaking investigation that resulted in the arrest of the three suspects who revealed that the victim had long been murdered and buried after thorough investigation.
Mba, through a statement released to newsmen, said the victim had been a Facebook friend of the principal suspect – Johnson Emmanuel, who lured the deceased from her Gwagwalada’s home to visit the suspect.
“The suspect thereafter took advantage of the visit, served her yoghurt laced with drugs and subsequently had her murdered. The suspect having killed the victim and buried her remains in a septic tank, went ahead to reach out to the family of the victim using her phone and demanded 5-Million naira ransom as pre-condition for her release.
“Meanwhile, today 4th June, 2020, the suspects led a team of investigators alongside pathologists to a residence at Wumba District, Lokogoma, Abuja where the victim’s decomposing body was exhumed from a septic tank. The exhumed body has been taken to the University Teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada, Abuja for forensic examination.
“A Toyota Highlander Jeep belonging to the deceased has also been recovered by Police operatives at a mechanic workshop in Apo where it had been repainted into a different colour, vehicle documents fraudulently changed and ownership of the stolen vehicle criminally transferred to one of the masterminds of the crime – Johnson Emmanuel,” the statement said.
Investigations also revealed that the house where the deceased was killed and buried originally belonged to one of the suspects but was hurriedly sold-off to a third party to hide evidence of the crime.
The Inspector-General of Police, IGP Mohammad Adamu, while commending the operatives for a job well done, stressed that that perpetrator of any form of crimes in the country will not go undetected and unpunished.
He, however, enjoins citizens to be more security conscious and report any suspicious activities within their neighbourhood to the nearest police. station.
