The Anambra Police Command says it has arrested a suspect, Friday Akonobi, in connection with the alleged abduction and murder of a six-year-old girl from Ikwo Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.
The command’s spokesperson, Tochukwu Ikenga, disclosed this in a statement issued in Awka and made available to reporters on Sunday.
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Mr Ikenga, a superintendent of police, said that operatives attached to the Rapid Response Squad (RRS), Awkuzu, acting on credible information, arrested Mr Akonobi, 28, in the early hours of 17 January in Awka.
According to him, the arrest is linked to the abduction and murder of Ozioma Nwankwo, who was abducted on 10 May 2025, in Ikwo Local Government Area of Ebonyi.
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He said that preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect was allegedly involved in the crime, which was also connected to an Enugu-based alleged native doctor.
The native doctor’s full name is Levi Onyeka Obieze Obu. He is popularly known as Ozo Ezeani as well as “E dey play E dey show.”
Mr Ikenga said that during interrogation, the suspect confessed to committing the crime in collaboration with four other accomplices currently at large.
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He said that the suspect told the police that the victim was taken to Enugu and handed over to the alleged native doctor.
The police spokesperson said the suspect also confessed that he and his accomplices acted as agents for Mr Ezeani and were allegedly paid N1 million for each virgin brought to him.
According to Mr Ikenga, the suspect further stated that the victim was murdered and used for ritual purposes.
He said the suspect also disclosed that the alleged native doctor had since been arrested by operatives of the Enugu State Police Command.
Mr Ikenga assured the public that efforts were being intensified to arrest the remaining suspects and ensure that all those involved were brought to justice.
PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported how Mr Obu allegedly buried several people in a pit, including a pregnant woman, apparently for ritual purposes.
The incident happened on 26 May 2025 at Umumba Ndiagu, a community in Ezeagu Local Government Area of Enugu State, Nigeria’s South-east.
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Mr Obu was arraigned in a magistrate’s court in Enugu in August last year on seven counts of conspiracy, kidnapping and murder, alongside two others — Sebastine Offor, the second defendant, and Ejike Odinwakpa, the third defendant.
The Chief Magistrate, O.S. Chukwuani, had ordered that the defendants be remanded until 20 August and the case file transferred to the director of public prosecutions for legal advice and prosecution at a high court.
After Mr Obu’s alleged criminal activities went public, he attempted to flee Nigeria.
But was arrested by personnel of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) at the Badagry-Seme Border Area of Lagos.
Days later, NIS authorities handed him over to the Lagos State Command of the Nigeria Police Force.
The native doctor was subsequently moved from Lagos to the Enugu State Command of the police, hours later, to face prosecution.
(NAN)
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