A former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Chairman in
Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta State, Chief Kings Okpako, and a
32-year-old man have been arrested by the police for their alleged involvement
in the murder of an 18-year old in the university town of Abraka.
It was learnt that the arrest followed the
discovery by residents of the mutilated corpse of the teenage girl concealed in
a sack and kept in a waste dump.
A crack team of police detectives led by the
divisional police officer (DPO) in charge of Abraka Police Station, Mr. Hassan
Jimoh, in its efforts to unravel the mysterious death of the girl, subsequently
nabbed the politician and another suspect alleged to be the 'boyfriend' of the
deceased.
In another development, the police also arrested
two men for alleged defilement of a two-year old infant and ten-year-old girl.
In the first incident, a 58-year man accused of
having canal knowledge of a 10-year-old girl in Eku, a neighboring town of
Abraka, also in Ethiope East Local Government Area of the state.
Similarly, a 52-year-old man was on June 27, 2019, arrested
by the police in Ovwian-Aladja in Udu Local Government Area of the state for allegedly
defiling a two-year-old girl.
The state police spokeswoman, DSP Onome Onovwakpoyewa,
who confirmed the different arrests on Sunday, said the four suspects arrested
in connection with the three incidents would be arraigned as soon as due
investigations were concluded.
While giving details on the suspected
ritual-related murder in Abraka, the state Police Public Relations Officer
said: “On June 18, 2019, a sack containing a lifeless body of a teenage girl of
about 18 years was found in a heap of dustbin in Abraka. On inspection of the
corpse by the police, marks of violence were obvious on the deceased neck which
implied she could have been killed by unknown person or persons.
''Subsequently, in the course of police
investigation, the male friend of the deceased, one 32-year-old Henry
Ikechukwu, who was last seen with the deceased on June 17, 2019, and had been
on the run since the incident, was tracked down and arrested on June 28,
2019.''
The said known boyfriend of the deceased, on
interrogation, allegedly confessed to have invited the deceased for an outing
on June 17, 2019, from where he lured her and handed her over to a prominent
chief in the town (Abraka), who gave him the assignment to get the deceased for
him.''
Onovwakpoyewa said the local PDP chieftain,
who holds a traditional chieftaincy title, “has also been arrested, and the two
suspects are presently in police custody pending investigation. They will soon
appear in court immediately after the completion of the ongoing police
investigation.''
Similarly, the two suspected rapists arrested in
Eku and Ovwian-Aladja were equally in police custody and might be charged to
court today, the police spokeswoman said.
She said the state Commissioner of Police, “Mr
Adeyinka Adeleke, has advised parents to keep close watch on their under-aged
female children to avoid them falling victim of rapists.”
Three incidents of alleged defilement of under-aged
girls, the oldest being 10 years, have been reported in the state over a
three-week period.
“The growing cases of ritual-related killings as
well as rape cases including juveniles in Delta and other states in Nigeria are
believed in some quarters not to be unconnected with the get-rich syndrome in
the country,” she said.
A 300 level mass communication student of Delta State
University, Abraka, Miss Elozino Ogege, was late last year gruesomely murdered
by ritualists who pretended to be helping her secure off-campus accommodation
in the town. Several persons, including a so-called herbalist or witchdoctor
arrested in connection with Elozino's murder have since been arraigned.
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