A 24-year-old man has allegedly killed and then dismembered his 20-year-old girlfriend, Justina Otuene, in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State, South-south Nigeria.
The suspect, Damian Okoligwe, a 400-level student of petrochemical engineering at the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT), has been arrested by the police in the state.
The victim, Ms Otuene, was also a 300-level student of biochemistry at the UNIPORT.
The Commissioner of Police in the state, Emeka Nwonyi, who paraded the suspect on Thursday at the State Police Headquarters, said operatives of the Ozuoba Police Division arrested the suspect in response to a complaint that a foul smell was coming out of the suspect’s two-bedroom apartment.
Mr Nwonyi said on arrival at the suspect’s apartment, the operatives forcefully opened the door, and a big bag containing the victim’s body was recovered, but the officers did not meet the occupants of the house.
The police commissioner said the operatives immediately launched a manhunt for the fleeing suspect, who was eventually traced and arrested for questioning.
He said the case had been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department for investigation while the body of the victim had been deposited at the mortuary.
Suspect speaks
The suspect, Mr Okoligwe, claimed during the parade that the slain girl was his “off-and-on girlfriend,” a phrase used to refer to an unserious romantic relationship.
The suspect confessed that he rented the two-bedroom apartment where the incident occurred about one week before.
He, however, denied killing the victim, who, he admitted, visited him in a taxi which he booked for her.
Mr Okoligwe claimed that he took ill immediately when the girlfriend arrived at his house.
Narrating what transpired, the suspect said, “She (victim) was supposed to leave that night, but I slept off because she came at about 4:00 p.m. After, I was very sick and when I woke up, she was already lying down in bed because I slept in the parlour.
“I woke up that morning very sick, so I went into the room to check on her. She was still sleeping, then I went back to the parlour.
“Later, I was calling her, but she didn’t respond. So, I had to go check her out, but she was not moving at all. She was stiff. After that I did not know what to do, so I carried her body into another room. And then I called my brother to come and pick me up.
“Her mutilated body was when I was trying to get rid of her body into the Ghana-Must-Go bag.
“I did not report to the police because I was thinking that I would surely be blamed. When I came back on that Wednesday from my brother’s place where I went to take treatment, that was the day the whole police issue came about.”
John Otuene, the victim’s elder brother, called for justice for his sister. He accused the suspect of kidnapping and killing his younger sister.
Mr Otuene narrated that the sister was not seen for days and that they were making efforts to find her when they received a call from an unknown person who demanded ransom from the family.
He said days after the ransom was demanded, the family members were informed of his sister’s death.
Not the first time
The latest incident highlights the growing incidence of men killing their girlfriends across Nigeria.
A tricyclist in Abia State, South-east Nigeria, simply identified as Chigozie, was arrested in July, for allegedly his girlfriend and dumping her corpse in a bush in Umuahia, the state capital.
In August, the police in Lagos State, South-west Nigeria, arrested Samuel Adeniyi, for allegedly killing his girlfriend with a sledgehammer in the state on the suspicion that she might leave him for another man.
Also, a 22-year-old man, Moses Okoh, was arraigned before Plateau State High Court, in February 2022, for allegedly killing his 20-year-old girlfriend, Jennifer Anthony, an undergraduate of the University of Jos in the North-central state.
READ ALSO: Chinese man allegedly kills Nigerian girlfriend for refusing to marry him
In 2021, Iniubong Umoren, a fresh Philosophy graduate of the University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, was raped and then murdered by Uduak Akpan, who lured her out of her home with a fake job interview.
Mr Akpan would be sentenced to death by the State High Court in Uyo, a year later.
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