Four persons have been arrested by operatives of the Anambra State Police Command for burning a 74-year-old woman to death.
The incident occurred on Saturday in Abagana, Dunukofia Local Government Area. Her attackers reportedly procured a coffin and interred her immediately after the act.
A source claimed that the woman, who used a wheelchair, was suspected to have been burnt for ritual purposes by one Ifeanyi Igwe, who remains at large. However, five persons connected to the incident, including Igwe’s 21-year-old girlfriend, Chinenye Ekwenugo, were arrested.
The Public Relations Officer of the Anambra State Police Command, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, clarified the situation in a press release, stating that three of the four arrested persons were linked to the procurement of the coffin and burial of the victim.
His statement read: “The Anambra State Police operatives serving at Abagana Divisional Police Headquarters today, 26/1/2024, at 9 am arrested four suspects, including a 21-year-old lady, Chinenye Ekwenugo, from Ifitedunu.
“They were arrested over the burning of a 74-year-old woman in a wheelchair in Abagana.
“During interrogation, the suspect Chinenye confessed that her boyfriend, Ifeanyi Igwe, who is currently at large, and three others set the victim ablaze and procured a casket to bury her before the intervention of the security operatives.
“Efforts have been initiated to apprehend the main suspect, Ifeanyi Igwe, who is still on the run. The body of the deceased has been deposited in the morgue for autopsy and further investigation into the cause of death.”
Ikenga provided the names of the other three suspects as Uzochukwu Okeke, 47, Fidel Anayo, 60, and Ikenna Anene, 54, all of them male and from Abagana.
Commissioner of Police Nnaghe Obono Itam, while reacting to the incident, called for calm and ordered the immediate transfer of the case to the Homicide Section of the State Criminal Investigation Department for a comprehensive investigation.
