A 31-year-old man identified as Edeh Tochukwu, who allegedly killed his lover, 48-year-old Ijeoma Felix, has been arrested by Operatives of the Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT) in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Edeh Tochukwu, a native of Nara Unateze in Nkanu East Local Government Area of Enugu State, was arrested for culpable homicide.
He was said to have allegedly killed his older girlfriend, Ijeoma Phyllis, 48, and stolen her car, mobile phones, and other properties.
The suspect, who was paraded at the IRT Office in Abuja on Tuesday, confessed to having hit the victim with a pestle during an allegedly violent argument at her two-bedroom residence in the Lugbe area of the FCT on 24 October.
After hitting her, the suspect said he took the Toyota Camry belonging to the deceased, along with her phone and some other belongings before leaving the house.
He added that he was arrested on 2 November after changing the car documents of the Camry and selling it for N1.7 million.
Recounting his version of the events that led to Ijeoma’s death, he told journalists both he and Ijeoma had an argument over a Toyota Highlander she had given him, which he sold without her consent.
The suspect said he met the deceased in a Facebook group in 2020, adding that their relationship started on a good note, which led to him moving into her apartment. He claimed that the relationship turned abusive with him being the victim.
The victim’s elder sister told journalists how she learnt of the death of her sister, Ijeoma Felix after her gruesome killing on 24 October, at her residence.
She stated that she received a call from the caretaker of the property where her late sister’s apartment resided, informing her that Ijeoma had not been seen for days and that she might be seriously ill.
Upon her arrival at the residence, she said there was a foul odour but that her car was nowhere 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 (agency).
“We were even at that police station when the environmental people came. All of us went to the compound.
“They went in; they brought out my sister, wrapped in her centre rug. She was smelling already. That means the smell I was perceiving (the day before) was my sister. She had been there for days, smelling! That was how we took her to Gwagwalada Hospital and deposited the body.
“The car was not there. The telly 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) and they didn’t see when he left and the car had not been there since he left,” she said, adding that the family wants justice.
Interrogating the suspects at the Guzape Abuja office of the intelligence team, the Police authorities said the suspect was arrested following receipt of credible and reliable information about his movement.
The statement added: “The suspect who said he studied and graduated from the Department of Mass Communication, Federal Polytechnic, Nasarawa State and resides in Abuja before the incident, added that the incident happened unintentionally on October 23, 2022, at the deceased’s apartment in Lugbe following a quarrel between them.
“He confessed to having used a pestle to perform the dastardly act on that fateful day after the lady invited him to her house on the day of the sad incident and started quarrels with him over his refusal to initiate marriage proposals with her and sundry issues.
“According to him, he got into a relationship with the older lady after they met at an event during the Covid-19 lockdown around March 2020 and they started visiting each other and the lady quickly started pressing him to marry her and gifted him a High Lander Jeep 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 before the killing of the late lover.”
The Force Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi said the arrest of the suspect followed the directive of the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Usman Alkali Baba to fish out the culprit and to ensure no stone is left unturned in dealing with criminal elements.
Adejobi stated that the investigation is still ongoing and warned the public to be cautious about their activities on social media.
