Men of the Edo state police command have arrested and paraded six suspects in connection with the rape and murder of Vera Uwaila Omozuwa.
The suspects were identified as Nelson
Ogbebor, Akato Valentine, Tina Samuel, Mary Ade, Nosa Osabohien and Collins Ulegbe.
Parading the suspects, the Edo State Police Commissioner of Police, Johnson Kokumo, said the matter is of great concern to the Inspector General of Police, Muhammed Adamu, who sent homicide experts to work with our policemen in Benin.
“What we are seeing today is a result of the efforts of the police to get at the root of the crime, and today, I announce to you that the perpetrators have been arrested,” he said.
Osabohien, a phone repairer, was the first to be arrested by the police because he bought Uwa’s phone for N17,000, prompting him to lead authorities to Ulegbe who’s been identified as the principal suspect.
Ulegbe confessed to striking Uwa with the fire extinguisher that has been identified as the murder weapon and left at the scene of the crime.
The suspects also revealed that one of the paraded suspects, Mary Ade, offered them N1million to carry out the killing for ritual purpose. After the act, they allegedly cleaned the deceased’s blood with a white handkerchief and handed it over to Mary.
However, she denied the allegation and said she would prove her innocence in court.
Uwa, a 22-year-old first year student of the University of Benin, was raped and fatally wounded while reading inside a Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) parish on May 27, 2020.
She died three days later and her case became the rallying point for a resurgence in the national campaign against gender-based violence in Nigeria.
Photo Credit: NPF
