The Enugu State Police Command says it has arrested one 21-year-old man, Augustine Akor, for allegedly raping and murdering a teenage girl, identified as Faith Akuji, said to be his relative.

A statement the police released on Thursday night, signed by the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Daniel Ndukwe, said the suspect was arrested on June 12, 2023, by its operatives serving in Igbo-Eze North Division of the Command, with assistance from Neighbourhood Watch Group at about 9.30 am.

Ndukwe said that the 21-year-old suspect, who hails from Ette in Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area, had allegedly raped the 16-year-old victim on June 8, and strangled her to death in a bush at Mpole-Ubere in the Ette community to cover-up the crime.

Preliminary investigation, according to the statement, revealed that the victim had gone missing in the evening hours of June 8, “after her grandfather sent her to grind cassava in the community centre, with all efforts made to trace her whereabouts proving abortive.”

Ndukwe said that “Her decomposing body was, however, found in the bush, following the arrest of the suspect, who confessed to having dragged the victim into the bush, forcefully had carnal knowledge of her, until she fainted and died in the process.

“The victim’s remains, found without any lower-body cloth, were evacuated to the hospital and confirmed dead by doctors on duty.”

The PPRO said that the case was undergoing further discreet investigation at the Homicide Section of the State Criminal Intelligence and Investigation Department, adding that the suspect will be arraigned in court upon the conclusion of the investigation.

The command’s spokesperson quoted the Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Ammani, to have condemned the incident describing it as atrocious and unthinkable while consoling the family and friends of the deceased victim.

The commissioner was, therefore, said to have directed that the case be meticulously handled and concluded within recorded time, and the suspect charged to court for justice to be dispensed accordingly.

Source: The Punch