Three brothers of one Emmanuel family, Johnson, Gideon and Success, have been arrested by the police for the kidnap and murder of one Mrs Janet Ogbonnaya.
One of the three brothers, Johnson Emmanuel, had lured the woman, a mother of five children, via Facebook from her Gwagwalada home where they allegedly laced her yoghurt with drugs and subsequently murdered her.
After the killing, the three brothers allegedly buried the remains of Ogbonnaya, a 55-year-old mother of five children, in a septic tank and hurriedly sold off their Abuja home to a third party.
Subsequently, the three brothers, using the victim’s phone, reached out to her family, demanding a ransom of N5 million, while they escaped to their Imo family home to take refuge.
According to the Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba, in a statement, the arrest of the three brothers at their Imo family home had been instigated by complaints by one Chinedu Ogbonnaya that his mother had been kidnapped.
The statement further stated that the decomposing body of Ogbonnaya was on Thursday brought out of the septic tank for forensic examination.
The police statement further read: “Police operatives attached to the Intelligence Response Unit of the Nigeria Police Force have arrested three suspects namely; Johnson Emmanuel – 38yrs, Gideon Emmanuel – 31yrs and Success Emmanuel – 27yrs for the kidnap and gruesome murder of one Mrs Janet Nnenna Ogbonnaya on 14th May, 2020.
“The suspects, born by same parents, all male and native of Isiekenesi, Ideato Local Government Area of Imo State were arrested by the police in their home town where they had taken refuge after committing the crime in Abuja in order to evade police arrest.
“Investigations that led to the arrest of the suspects is sequel to complaints received from one Chinedu Ogbonnaya who alleged that his mother, Mrs Janet Nnenna Ogbonnaya, 55yrs, native of Ozuitem in Bende Local Government Area of Abia State had been kidnapped and a N5 million ransom demanded before she could be released.
“A comprehensive and painstaking investigation by the police operatives resulted in the arrest of the three suspects, whom, in the course of interrogation, revealed that the victim had long been murdered and buried.
“Further findings revealed that the victim, a widow, who had been a Facebook friend of the principal suspect – Johnson Emmanuel, was lured from her home in Gwagwalada to visit the suspect.
“The suspect thereafter took advantage of the visit, served her yoghurt laced with drugs and subsequently had her murdered.
“The suspect having killed the victim and buried her remains in a septic tank, went ahead to reach out to the family of the victim using her phone and demanded N5 million ransom as precondition for her release.
“Meanwhile, today 4th June, 2020, the suspects led a team of investigators alongside pathologists to a residence at Wumba District, Lokogoma, Abuja where the victim’s decomposing body was brought out of a septic tank. The body has been taken to the University Teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada, Abuja for forensic examination.
“A Toyota Highlander Jeep belonging to the deceased has also been recovered by police operatives at a mechanic workshop in Apo where it had been repainted into a different colour, vehicle documents fraudulently changed and ownership of the stolen vehicle criminally transferred to one of the masterminds of the crime – Johnson Emmanuel.
“Investigations also revealed that the house where the deceased was killed and buried originally belonged to one of the suspects but was hurriedly sold-off to a third party apparently to obliterate evidence.”
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