A 23-year-old undergraduate of the University of Port Harcourt has been arrested for killing an eight-year-old girl for ritual purposes.
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| The suspect, Ifeanyi Dike and the murdered girl (Sunday Punch A 23-year-old student of the University of Port Harcourt, Ifeanyi Dike, has been arrested for allegedly raping and killing an eight-year-old girl, before removing her vital body parts like the tongue, eyes, breasts and private parts for ritual purposes.Sunday Punch reports that Dike, a resident of the Eliozu axis of Port Harcourt and neighbour of the parents of the girl identified as Victory Chikamso, had abducted her on Friday, August 18, 2017, and after raping her, killed her and cut off the vital parts. Luck ran out on him after he was caught by a vigilante group after he had stuffed the remains of the girl in a polythene bag and was trying to dump the body in a bush at about 1:30 am. It was gathered that Dike who is close to the parents of the girl was handed over to the police at the Okporo Police Station.  Confirming the arrest of the suspect, the State Police Public Relations Officer [PPRO], DSP Nnamdi Omoni, said Dike was trying to dispose of the mutilated body of the victim when he was apprehended by a local vigilante. “Today, at about 01:30 hrs, men of the Okporo Police Station arrested one Ifeanyi Chukwu Maxwell Dike (male, 23 years) of Messiah Street, Eliozu, Port Harcourt, who yesterday (Friday) abducted one Chikamso Victory (female, eight years) of the same address. The little girl was abducted, defiled and killed, while her vagina, eyes, tongue, and breasts were removed and put in a polythene bag. The suspect was going to dispose of the body when he was arrested by a local vigilante that suspected his movement. After he was questioned, the suspect dropped the bag and fled. Consequently, he was given chase and arrested. On further interrogation by the police, he confessed and took the police to where the vital organs were concealed.” The suspect who confessed to the crime on interrogation told the police that he was lured into the ritual killing by a man who promised to make him wealthy. The grieving father of the deceased, Ernest Nmezuwuba, who spoke to newsmen on the incident, said Dike was like a brother to him and expressed shock that he could do that to him. “My name is Ernest Nmezuwuba, I am from Ochiogwa in Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo State. The man who killed my daughter is like my brother, someone very close to me. In fact, I can call him my cousin. He is a 200-level student of the University of Port Harcourt here and he resides at Eliozu. On the morning of Friday that she was abducted, Chikamso had requested bread for breakfast and I bought the bread for her before going to work. When I returned home around 3 pm, I learned that my daughter was missing and I immediately began to search for her but the search was fruitless. I moved immediately with my wife to where our daughter usually went, but we could not find her. Then I ran to the police and they advised me to call back after 24 hours. This Ifeanyi (suspect) we are talking about is a habitual criminal. He committed a crime in a bank and the Special Anti-Robbery Squad caught him. Then the in-law went and bailed him. So, around 1.30 am, the security men ran to me and said that they had seen my daughter and that I should come and see the man that kidnapped my daughter. I was in my shorts and I rushed to the place with the security agents. I was told that the person that killed my daughter was caught while carrying a load around 1.10 am. The load was in a sack. The policemen said when they confronted him, he said he wanted to take it to the dustbin. When I got there, I asked: where is my daughter? They showed me a sack. As I opened it, I saw my daughter; I peeped and watched very well; the two eyes were off, the tongue was gone, one of the bosoms was off, one of the fingers, the smaller one, was off. I watched at the center here, he had carved it [vagina] out. This boy decided to use my child for a ritual. As I turned back and saw him, he was looking at the ground. Immediately I saw him, I shouted, Ifeanyi, you killed my daughter. But he said it was not only him.  The body of the young victim murdered by Ifeanyi Dike (Sunday Punch) Honestly, if the police are working like this, people will not complain. The vigilante men did well,” the bitter Nmezuwuba said. The police say Dike would be charged to court at the end of an investigation aimed at arresting his accomplices while warning parents to be very careful of the people they allow access to their homes. |