The Enugu State Police Command has apprehended two individuals, Ikechukwu Okoye (33) and Juliet Ogbodo (39), both residents of Onuorie-Obuno in Akpugo Community, Nkanu West Local Government Area, on suspicion of abducting and murdering a 70-year-old woman.
The suspects are accused of kidnapping and killing Mrs Mary Nwatu in September 2024 and burying her in a shallow grave.
According to a statement released Thursday by DSP Daniel Ndukwe, the Police Public Relations Officer in Enugu, the Anti-Kidnapping Tactical Squad made the arrests.
Ndukwe explained, “Preliminary findings indicate that Mrs. Nwatu was reported missing on September 15, 2024, after repeated attempts to locate her failed.”
He added that on October 5, 2024, Ikechukwu Okoye, who is a relative of the victim, began contacting her family, demanding a ransom of six million Naira (N6,000,000.00).
After his arrest, based on credible intelligence, Okoye admitted to kidnapping Mrs. Nwatu on the morning of September 14, 2024, around 8:00 a.m.
He revealed that when she came looking for his mother, he abducted her, subsequently killed her, and buried her in a shallow grave on the property.
Okoye further admitted that he initially demanded six million Naira as ransom, later reducing it to three million Naira (N3,000,000.00).
Eventually, he accepted a payment of twenty thousand Naira (N20,000.00) to allow the victim’s children to hear their mother’s voice on the phone before further payments were arranged.
His girlfriend, Juliet Ogbodo, confessed to knowing about the crime but did not report it to the authorities.
The police have since exhumed the victim’s remains and taken them to a mortuary for preservation and autopsy.
The suspects, along with any other accomplices, will face charges in court once investigations are complete.