The police in Imo State say they have arrested two men who allegedly raped and beheaded Wendy Achumba, a female nursing student in Umulogho, a community in Obowo Local Government Area of the state.
Henry Okoye, the police spokesperson in Imo State, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday.
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PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported that the victim’s decapitated body was found on Thursday evening in her hostel room in the Umulogho Community in the Obowo Local Government Area of the state.
The victim, who hailed from Abia State, was a student of the College of Nursing Sciences in Umuadara village in the Umulogho Community.
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She was said to have completed her midwifery programme and was undergoing post-basic training at the institution.
Arrest
In the Sunday statement, Mr Okoye, a deputy superintendent of police, identified the two men arrested over the incident as Onyema Okonkwo, 32, and Emmanuel Onyekachi, 25.
The police spokesperson said the two suspects hailed from Umuadara, a village in the Umulogho Community.
He said they were arrested following sustained, intelligence-led investigative efforts by the police in collaboration with some community members.
Mr Okoye said one of the suspects, Mr Okonkwo, confessed that he raped and then killed the 21-year-old female nursing student.
“During the investigation, Onyema Okonkwo confessed to killing the victim to conceal his crime after forcibly having unlawful carnal knowledge of her on multiple occasions. He further implicated Emmanuel Onyekachi as being involved in the matter.
“The suspects have been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department for discreet and comprehensive investigation and will be prosecuted upon the conclusion of investigations,” he said.
The police spokesperson did not mention when the suspects were arrested.
However, PREMIUM TIMES gathered that the suspects were arrested at separate locations in Umulogho Community on Saturday by youths of the community who subsequently handed them over to the police.
Mr Okoye said the Commissioner of Police in Imo State, Audu Bosso, assured Nigerians that the matter was currently being handled with “utmost diligence and professionalism.”
Mr Bosso, according to the statement, also assured that anyone found culpable would be prosecuted in line with the law.
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How we raped, decapitated the victim – Suspect
In various video clips obtained by PREMIUM TIMES, Mr Okonkwo was seen confessing to some youths that he and Mr Onyekachi stormed the victim’s hostel at about 7 p.m. but did not mention the date.
The suspect further narrated in Igbo language that he initially asked the victim to have sex with him but she declined and that his first attempt to rape her forced the victim to scratch him violently.
In one of the clips, he said he and Mr Onyekachi later overpowered the victim, took turns to rape her before Mr Onyekachi allegedly cut off her head with a machete.
