Police nab three dare-devil siblings for kidnap, murder of widow

Three bloodthirsty siblings, who allegedly kidnapped and gruesomely murdered a 55-year old mother of five in Abuja and bolted to Imo State, are now cooling their heels in Police net.

The men — Johnson Emmanuel, 38; Gideon Emmanuel, 31; and Success Emmanuel, 27 – had on May 14 lured their victim, Mrs Janet Nnenna Ogbonnaya, to their house in Abuja, kidnapped and snuffed life out of her.

The gang also stole her Toyota Highlander Jeep and ownership of the vehicle transferred to Johnson Emmanuel after repainting it.

According to the police, the widow, who was a Facebook friend of the principal suspect – Johnson Emmanuel, was lured from her home in Gwagwalada, Abuja, to visit him.

“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 pre-condition for her release.

“Investigations led to the arrest of the suspects after complaints received from the son of the victim, Chinedu Ogbonnaya who alleged that his 55-year old mother, a native of Ozuitem in Bende LGA of Abia State had been kidnapped and a five million naira ransom demanded before she could be released,’’ a statement by the Force Public Relations Officer, Mr Frank Mba, a Deputy Commissioner, said, a copy of which was obtained by Persecondnews.

The suspects, who are from Isiekenesi in Ideato Local Government Area of Imo State, were, however, apprehended by the Police operatives attached to the Intelligence Response Unit in their hide-out in their home town after committing the crime in Abuja.

“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.

“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 exhumed from a septic tank. The exhumed 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,’’ the police said.

Meanwhile, the Inspector-General of Police, Mr M.A Adamu, has commended the crack detectives who unraveled the kidnap saga and apprehended them, saying the perpetrators will not go unpunished.

“I commend the operatives for a job well done and assure that perpetrators of any form of crimes in the country will not go undetected and unpunished.’’

Adamu urged citizens to be more security conscious and report suspicious activities in their neighbourhood to the nearest police station.