A tricycle operator identified only as IK is alleged to have beaten his lover, a mother of two, to death before abandoning her body alongside their young children in Ogbogoro, Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State.
The tragic incident reportedly occurred on Tuesday along the CPM Street area of the community.
Residents said the disturbing discovery was made early in the morning when passersby noticed two young girls and the lifeless body of a woman inside a stationary tricycle parked by the roadside.
A resident, who identified himself as Senibo, told journalists that security operatives from the Ozuoba Police Division had already arrived at the scene before residents gathered.
According to him, police officers questioned the older child, who allegedly recounted that her father assaulted her mother with an object while they were staying at a guesthouse on Monday night.
The child was said to have told investigators that after noticing the woman could no longer speak or move, the suspect allegedly removed her from the lodge, placed her in the tricycle with the children and later fled the area.
Confirming the incident, the spokesperson for the Rivers State Police Command, ASP Blessing Agabe, said officers responded after receiving information from a concerned passerby about a woman who appeared lifeless inside a blue tricycle.
She explained that a patrol team from the Ozuoba Division immediately visited the location and found the body of the woman alongside two children aged about five years and six months.
Agabe stated that preliminary information provided by the older child indicated that her father allegedly attacked her mother during the night, leaving her with severe injuries.
According to the police spokesperson, the suspect reportedly took the victim to an undisclosed hospital after her condition worsened, where she was confirmed dead.
She added that the man subsequently abandoned the corpse and the children inside the tricycle before escaping.
The police said a sister of the deceased later identified the body, which has since been deposited in a mortuary for preservation and further investigation.
Agabe disclosed that the children have been handed over to the deceased’s family, while efforts are ongoing to track down and arrest the fleeing suspect.