A 49-year-old man who killed and placed his girlfriend's aunt in a septic tank has been detained by police in Cross River.
On Sunday in Calabar, the state anti-kidnapping unit, under the direction of SP Ogini Chukwuma, made this information public.
According to Mr Chukwuma, the suspect, Eyo Bassey, who is now detained, confessed to the murder after being apprehended on Sunday morning in the Cross River region's Akpabuyo Local Government Area.
Harmony Edemawan, 45, the victim, had been reported missing since Thursday, December 23.
According to Mr Chukwuma, the tactical team of the anti-kidnapping squad made the arrest of the suspect on the basis of reliable intelligence.
He said that the suspect had previously provided false information that the victim had sold his property for roughly N9 million and that he did not want to pay him the same amount.
“So he contacted some persons to abduct her in a bid to recover the money, but subsequently killed and dumped her inside a septic tank.
“We have recovered her body from the septic tank and deposited the remains at the mortuary and further investigation is ongoing to unravel others behind the heinous crime,” the detective explained.
The anti-kidnapping boss said that Mr Bassey had borrowed about N1.2 million from the victim whose niece, Ruth Edem, 22, a 200-Level student of the University of Calabar, he is dating.
A source who pleaded anonymity, said that the victim, a Lafarge staff, and the breadwinner of her family, only wanted to help the suspect by supporting him with some money to boost his palm oil business.
“My sister gave him the money in tranches and it’s about N1.2 million and it was given to him earlier this year to enable him to boost his palm oil business.
“My sister needed to return the money back to where she got it because it is not her own, but the suspect refused instead he turned the whole thing around, claiming he gave my sister a house document to sell and my sister absconded with the proceeds of N9 million.
“I last saw my sister on Wednesday, December 21, then on Thursday, we spoke on the phone where she told me she was in the bathroom and promised to call me back.
“But I never heard from her again until the shocking news of her death on Christmas Day,” the family source said.
(NAN)