Operatives of the Anambra State Police Command have arrested a suspect identified as Ekenedilichukwu Okeke, who confessed that he killed his 54-year-old stepmother, Mrs Theresa Okeke for refusing to give him N1million for school fees.

Ekenedilichukwu stated this while been paraded alongside 19 others criminal suspects by the Anambra State Commissioner of Police, CP Echeng Echeng, at the force headquarters in Awka, on Friday.

The suspect said he had on September 28, 2022, in company with his gang members, killed his stepmother, an accountant with National Population Commission in Awka.

According to police investigations, the deceased was murdered in her residence at No 4 Umuziocha Street, Awka.

The suspect said, ”I had a problem with my stepmother and I wanted her to give me N1 million, she refused but after some time, I pleaded with her and she agreed to give me the money.

“But when she later refused to give me the money, I had to arrange with some of my friends to come and help me to get the money from her. They came at night, tied her hands and leg to force her to give me the money, but in the process, she stopped talking and before we knew it, she was dead.”

One of the accomplices, arrested along with him, Mr Peter Jideofor said Ekenedilichukwu called him to help him get the money forcefully from his stepmother.

“Ekenedilichukwu called me that I should help him extract N1m from his stepmother to enable him to pay his school fees at the university.

“When we got to his stepmother’s house at about 2 am, one of the guys tied the woman’s hands and legs and when she wanted to shout, I personally covered her mouth and I called the other one to bring something to tie her mouth. After tying her mouth, she stopped breathing and we have to rush out,” he said.

He added that they could not get any money from the woman before she died as she did not give them her pin number.

Also, among the suspects paraded by the police, was a suspect, identified as Mr Nwobodo Samuel Obumneme, who confessed to belonging to a group that killed a staff member of the Independent National Electoral Commission, in Awka, Mr Osita Duruoha in September.

The 26-year-old, Obumneme, alongside two of his gang members, allegedly strangled Duruoha, with the aim of dispossessing him of his shuttle bus.

Duruoha, before his death, was declared missing in September, but his body was later found by the roadside, along the Isuaniocha community in Awka North Local Government Area of the state.

Obumneme was among the several suspects who were paraded for various crimes at the police headquarters in Awka on Friday.

He was paraded alongside two of his gang members, 28-year-old Malachi Chinedu Uzorchukwu and Ifesinachi Ogechukwu, aged 28 years.

The suspect said, “We hired him to use his shuttle bus to take us to Urum from Ifite, and our intention was to steal his bus, but later we had to strangle him and take the bus.”

While parading the suspects in Awka on Friday, the state police commissioner, Echeng Echeng, who briefed journalists said, “On September 28, 2022, a two-man gang of armed robbers, who specialise in snatching shuttle buses around Ifite-Awka by pretending to be passengers had boarded a shuttle bus belonging and driven by an INEC Staff, Mr Osita Duruoha ‘m’ 43yrs.

“The duo boarded the shuttle bus at Ifite on the pretence that they were going to Isu-Anaocha on an agreed fare of N3,000. On getting to Urum/Isu-anaocha road which is an Isolated area, the duo ordered the driver to stop and one of the suspects, Chinedu Malachi who was seated behind the driver used a rope to strangulate the driver from behind.

“Thereafter, they dumped the corpse of the deceased in a nearby bush and drove the shuttle bus to Enugu where they wanted to sell it. Detectives from State CID were able to arrest the suspects in Enugu and the deceased shuttle bus was recovered.

“The suspects namely; Nwobodo Samuel Obumneme ‘m’ aged 26yrs, Malachi Chinedu Uzorchukwu ‘m’ 28yrs and Ifecchinachi Ogechukwu ‘m’, aged 28yrs have since confessed to the crime and will soon be charged to court.”

The commissioner also paraded the 20-year-old Ekenedilichukwu Okeke, who allegedly connived with his gang members to kill his stepmother, with the hope of transferring N1 million from her account.

He said, “On September 28, 2022, at about 2:00 am, one Mrs Theresa Okeke ‘f’ aged 54yrs, an Accountant with National Population Commission, Awka was gruesomely murdered in her residence at No. 4 Umuziocha, Awka.

“Immediately the case was reported, her stepson, Ekenedilichukwu Okeke ‘m’, aged 20yrs who slept in the same house with the deceased was arrested for interrogation.

“He claimed that armed robbers stormed their residence and killed his stepmother. However, after an intelligence-based interrogation, he eventually confessed to the crime and named his accomplices.”

The CP said the command in collaboration with vigilante groups in the state also arrested four suspects for vandalising and stealing EEDC equipment from Nsugbe Town and Nza village Ozubulu Areas respectively.

He also disclosed that a Venza jeep with Reg No. KRD 344 BT Lagos, was intercepted at the scene where they attacked Army patrol officers at Isuiofia in Aguata LGA, adding that during the gunfire, four ESN/IPOB militants were neutralized and two walkie-talkies were recovered in the vehicle.

“These criminals, snatch vehicles at gun points and use the vehicles to perpetrate their act of attack on security personnel within and without Anambra state,” he added.

He called on criminal elements in the state to relocate as the state would be too hot for them.

He urged law-abiding citizens to continue to go about their lawful businesses and give prompt information about criminal activities within their domain to law enforcement agencies for appropriate action.

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