The Anambra State Police Command has arrested four people for burning to death a 74-year-old woman.
The incident took place on Saturday in Abagana, Dunukofia Local Government Area. Her attackers obtained a casket and buried her soon following the incident.
According to one report, the woman, who used a wheelchair, was suspected of being burned for ceremonial purposes by Ifeanyi Igwe, who is still at large. Four people have been detained in connection with the incident, including Chinenye Ekwenugo, Igwe’s 21-year-old girlfriend.
The Anambra State Police Command’s Public Relations Officer, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, addressed the matter in a news statement, noting that three of the four detained suspects were involved to the acquisition 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.
