A 74-year-old physically challenged woman has been burnt to death by five people in Anambra State, South-east Nigeria.
The police spokesperson in Anambra State, Tochukwu Ikenga, in a statement on Sunday, said the suspects allegedly burnt the victim to death in Abagana, Njikoka Local Government Area of the state.
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Mr Ikenga, a superintendent of police, did not, however, state when the incident happened.
He said the suspects involved were four men and one woman.
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The spokesperson said police operatives from Abagana Divisional Police Headquarters arrested four of the suspects at about 9 a.m. on Sunday.
He gave the names of the arrested suspects as Uzochukwu Okeke, 47, Fidel Anayo, 60 and Ikenna Anene, 54 – all males and indigenes of Abagana.
A 21-year-old woman, Chinenye Ekwenugo from Ifitedunu, was the only female suspect.
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Ifitedunu is a neighbouring community in Dunukofia Local Government Area of Anambra State.
The fifth suspect, Ifeanyi Igwe, who is Ms Ekwenugo’s boyfriend, was currently on the run, the police said.
How it happened
Mr Ikenga said Ms Ekwenugo has confessed that she and her boyfriend alongside three other suspects set the victim ablaze.
The police spokesperson said the female suspect also confessed that they had secured a casket to bury the victim before security operatives intervened.
The police did not provide the name of the deceased woman, who only moved with the help of a wheelchair.
“The operatives also recovered the burnt remains of the deceased, the wheelchair, and a casket.”
Mr Ikenga said the police have also begun efforts to track down the main suspect, Mr Igwe.
“The body of the deceased has been deposited in the morgue for autopsy and further probe of the cause of the death,” he said.
He said the Commissioner of Police in Anambra State, Nnaghe Obono, has ordered the “immediate transfer” of the case to the Homicide Section of the State Criminal Investigation Department of the police for investigation.
Not the first
This latest incident is coming less than a week after a Nigerian man allegedly burnt his wife to death in the same Abagana Community in Anambra State.
The victim, Chioma Nwanna, a mother of five, was confirmed dead on Wednesday morning.
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