Two undergraduates, James Okoh and Victor Okefie, have been arrested by the police in Enugu over the murder of a lady who was returning to the country from the United States of America.
Okoh is from Amata in Afikpo Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, while Okefie hails from Ajaokuta in Kogi State.
Police sources said both were final year students of an undisclosed state university in the South-East.
It was gathered that the lady, identified as Mrs Stella Uhuo, was murdered and robbed by the undergraduates, shortly after her flight landed at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, on November 14, 2015.
It is gathered that Stella had gone to the US for a vacation.
It was learnt that, shortly after landing at the airport, she contacted Okoh, who reportedly combines his studies with a cab business, to convey her to Abakiliki, where she was to deliver some items she brought for some people from the US.
It was also gathered that Okoh was known to Stella and had provided cab services for her on several occasions in the past.
Following the call from Stella, Okoh arrived at the airport with his Volvo car with Lagos registration number EKY 855 CY in company with Okefie.
Some of Stella’s family members were also said to have come to receive her at the airport. It was learnt that her personal belongings were taken away to her house in the car brought by her family members, before she left in Okoh’s car with the items she intended to deliver in Abakiliki.
However, unknown to Stella, Okoh and Okefie had other plans.
On the way to Abakiliki, the duo reportedly diverted the car off the busy Enugu-Abakiliki expressway to a lonely road, where they beat Stella to death, before making away with the items she wanted to deliver in the Ebonyi State capital.
It is learnt that the items included dollars, clothes and electronic gadgets.
Having murdered their passenger, Okoh and Okefie reportedly dumped her body at dustbin located along the Enugu-Abakiliki expressway.
Spokesman of the Enugu State Police Command, Mr. Ebere Amaraizu, who confirmed the development, said Okoh and Okefie had been at large since the incident, even as the police commenced investigations into the crime after Stella’s body was discovered.
Amaraizu said the investigations led to the recent arrest of the two undergraduates.
According to him, Okoh was arrested on January 29, 2016, at his hostel in Ebonyi State, while Okefie was trailed to his parents’ house at Ajaokuta, in Kogi State, where he was nabbed on January 31, 2016.
The police spokesman disclosed that Okoh and Okefie confessed that it was not their intention to kill Stella, as she died while resisting their attempt to make away with the items in her possession.
However, Amaraizu said the suspects were to appear in court soon.
Stella’s body, which was recovered from the dustbin where it was dumped, has been deposited in a mortuary.
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