A Nigerian man has allegedly murdered a pregnant nurse who visited his house in Anambra State, Nigeria’s South-east.
The incident, PREMIUM TIMES gathered, happened on 24 July at Umueri village in Ogbunike Community, Oyi Local Government Area of the state.
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This newspaper further gathered that the suspect, Chiemerie Obika Elobisi, visited the victim’s house and asked her to come over to his house in order to treat his supposed ailing mother.
But the suspect allegedly colluded with his girlfriend and murdered the pregnant nurse before dumping her mutilated body in a pit in the community.
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The victim identified as Ngozi Ekebe, originally hailed from Enugu Ezike, a community in Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area of Enugu State.
Her husband, Sunday Ekebe, comes from Ebonyi, another state in the South-east.
The couple lived at Umudioka in Anambra State which shares a boundary with Ogbunike Community in Oyi Local Government Area of the state.
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How it was discovered
Residents of the community told PREMIUM TIMES that the suspect had initially claimed that the victim visited his house, but left almost immediately because she refused to treat the mother because of outstanding debt the suspect owed her.
“He later said he didn’t say such, maintaining that the nurse did not come to his house,” one resident, who asked not to be named, said in Igbo language.
“But when we started searching for the nurse at about 10 p.m. around the area, the guy ran away while we were approaching the soakaway pit where we finally discovered the body of the nurse,” he narrated.
The resident said they pursued the suspect before he ran into a nearby bush which prompted them to grab his girlfriend.
“Some of her body, such as the eyes, were removed,” he said.
Husband speaks
Her husband, Mr Ekebe, said in a video clip circulating on Facebook that the victim was seven-months pregnant.
The distressed man said he had reported the matter to both the police in Anambra and the vigilante operatives in the community.
He said the prime suspect’s girlfriend, during interrogation by the vigilante operatives, confessed that they were involved in sale of human parts to native doctors around the area.
“She called names of many native doctors whom they sell human parts to. I can only remember that she mentioned one Offodile as one of the native doctors,” Mr Ekebe said in Igbo language.
“A fresh ear was seen in the suspect’s house during the search for my wife.”
Police speak
The police spokesperson in Anambra State, Tochukwu Ikenga, confirmed the development in a statement on Wednesday.
Mr Ikenga, a superintendent of police, confirmed that the girlfriend of the prime suspect has now been arrested in connection with the incident.
He said the suspect, Somtochukwu Nwafor, 24, was arrested on 25 July.
“During interrogation, the suspect confessed to being the girlfriend of the prime suspect Chiemerie Obika Elobisi from the same village, but currently at large.
“She stated that she was called by the suspect to clean the blood stains after the victim was murdered,” Mr Ikenga said.
Continuing, he said: “She further revealed how they sell the body parts to different evil native doctors in the area.
“Also, preliminary information shows that the victim, a trained nurse, was lured by the murderer to his house under the guise of seeking medication (for his mother).”
Busting of shrine, recovery of human parts
Mr Ikenga said, based on the information from the arrested suspect, police operatives from the State Criminal Investigation Department busted a shrine of an identified native doctor, Nwafor Chibunna Ofornwatadile.
He said the shrine was uncovered during the operation on Tuesday morning.
The police spokesperson said the operatives recovered suspected human body parts concealed in cellophane (nylon) bags during the operation.
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“However, the command has launched a manhunt for the prime suspect, along with the suspected receivers and collaborators,” he said.
Mr Ikenga said the Commissioner of Police in Anambra State, Ikioye Orutugu, has condemned the incident.
Mr Orutugu described the act as “inhumane, criminal, and an affront to public morality and the sanctity of life.”
The police chief urged anyone with useful information to assist the police in the ongoing investigation, assuring that the identity of such informants would be adequately protected.
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