A 31-year-old man, Edeh Tochukwu Christian, who was arrested by operatives of Intelligence Response Team of the Force Intelligence Bureau (FIB-IRT) for killing his 49-year-old lover, Miss Ijeoma Felix, with a pestle, said that his unintended action came after a quarrel.
Not only did the murder suspect kill his lover, he also allegedly took her car, mobile phones and other property away, leaving her still body on the floor in the apartment where they both lived before the incident.
Christian, a native of Nara Unateze in Nkanu East Local Government Area of Enugu State, was picked up in Port Harcourt, Rivers State on Wednesday November 2, 2022, after he fled from the crime scene at Lugbe in the nation’s capital to squat with a single mother who happened to be his new found lover.
The suspect, who claimed to have studied and graduated in Mass Communication from the Federal Polytechnic, Nasarawa State and resides at Abuja before the incident, said that he got into a relationship with the older lady after they met at an event during the Covid-19 lockdown in March 2020.
He stated further that they started visiting each other and the lady started putting pressure on him to marry her, following it up with the presentation of a Highlander SUV to him to facilitate the union.
He further said that he was unemployed when the relationship started and had to go back to school to read Phonology before he later found a job at a private school as an administrator and teaching staff.
The suspect disclosed that on the fateful day, the lady invited him to her house and started quarreling with him over his refusal to initiate marriage proposal with her, among other issues.
On his visit, she reportedly asked him to eat, which he refused, having decided to avoid her due to her quarrels and character. As a result, she reportedly demanded that he should return the car gift and when he didn’t, she went for the pestle to attack him.
He added that he grabbed the pestle, overpowered her and hit her with it.
The lover immediately fell down and started shouting: ‘somebody help me! somebody help me!! somebody help me!!!’ This, he said, made him to flee the scene.
He told the interrogating team that he made away with the deceased’s Toyota Corolla, iPhone, mobile phones and other personal effects because he didn’t want her to know where he was, adding that he didn’t envisage her death.
Christian made it known that he quickly sold the Toyota Corolla car N1.7 million two days after the incident.
The victim’s elder sister, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told of how she learnt of the deceased’s death on October 24 at her residence.
She stated that she received a call from the caretaker of the property where her late sister’s apartment was, telling her that Ijeoma had not been seen for days and that she might be seriously ill.
The sister said that on arrival at the residence, she perceived a foul odour and also noticed that her car was not in sight.
After learning that a report had been made at Lugbe Police Station, she went there but was asked to return the following day as the investigating police officer (IPO) was not on duty.
“The next day, we went there (Lugbe Police Station). Then we were able to meet the IPO. They had already made arrangements for the environmental officials and we all went to the house.
“They went in and brought out my sister, wrapped in her centre rug. She was smelling already. That means the smell I was perceiving the day before) was from my sister’s body. She had been there for days, smelling! That was how we took her to Gwagwalada Hospital and deposited the body in a mortuary.
“The car was not there. Her television was not there. The phones were not there. But you could see the charging things there. And they told me that the guy in question was the last person that came that Monday to her apartment. People said that they didn’t see him when he left and the car had not been there since then,” she said, adding that the family wants justice.
The Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi said that the arrest of the suspect followed the directive of the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Usman Alkali Baba to fish out the culprit and ensure no stone left unturned in dealing with criminal elements.
Adejobi stated that investigation would still be ongoing, admonishing members of the public to be cautious with their activities on social media.
