Anambra State Police Command has arrested two suspects in connection with the gruesome murder of three members of the same family in Ukpor, Nnewi South Local Government Area of the state.
The Police Public Relations Officer, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, who revealed this in a statement, said the bodies of the victims were discovered in a shallow grave in the community.
According to him, operatives of the Rapid Response Squad, RRS, Awkuzu, on the afternoon of May 3 arrested Emmanuel Nnabueze Nnakezie (male, 33) and Clement Nnaekezie (male, 69), following a painstaking investigation triggered by credible information about the sudden disappearance of the victims.
Ikenga stated that acting on intelligence, the operatives tracked and apprehended the suspects in different locations in Oba and Ukpor, respectively.
He further disclosed that during interrogation, the suspects allegedly confessed to the crime and led police operatives to the site where the victims had been buried in a shallow grave.
“The victims have been identified as Robert Nnakezie (male, 67), Ikechukwu Obi (male, 14), and Ukamaka Efione (female, 2), who was reportedly visiting during the school holidays,” he said.
Ikenga added that the remains of the victims have been exhumed and deposited in a morgue for autopsy.
Preliminary investigations, he noted, indicate that the heinous act may have stemmed from a dispute over the ownership of a bitter kola tree and other inherited parcels of land.
He also stated that the Commissioner of Police, Ikioye Orutugu, strongly condemned the act, describing it as barbaric and unacceptable.
The commissioner assured the public that the command remains committed to ensuring that justice is served.
