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Police parade man for allegedly killing fiancée for money ritual

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The Nigeria Police on Wednesday paraded a 54-year-old man, Christopher Akpan, for allegedly killing a 45-year-old National Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) officer, identified as Josephine Cynthia.

Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba, said Akpan had promised to marry Josephine but in the course of the relationship, a lot of financial dealings took place, as it is was believed that Josephine gave a large amount of money to Akpan.

He said, “Between December 19 and 20, 2019, she visited her lover who lured her to the house of a native doctor, Rafiu Afolabi, 67, in Benue, where she was murdered and her body buried in a shallow grave in the forest.

“Akpan promised to pay Afolabi N5 million out of the N14 million he had collected from Josephine. It took intense effort and massive follow-up by the Intelligence Response Squad before the crime was uncovered.”

Meanwhile, Afolabi confessed to the crime, saying it was a conspiracy between him and Akpan.

The police had said the incident was a case of conspiracy and abduction, stating that investigations revealed that Josephine’s last communication took place in Afolabi’s house in Adum, Obi Local Government Area of Benue.

Afolabi in his confession said he met Akpan when he went to the victim’s house sometime in 2019 to give her some concoctions to avoid late pregnancy after her marriage to Akpan.

Afolabi said, “In 2019, the late Josephine came to my shrine in company with one man. She sold mortar and pestle and needed my help so that the business would flourish. I collected N14,000 for the job and asked her to return in three days.

“When she returned, she told me of her plans to get married. She asked me to prepare medicine for her so that she would get pregnant quickly.

“I took the medicine to her house, and it was there that I met her fiancé. On December 19, 2019, at about 6.30 pm, I saw her and her fiancé in Otukpo.

Read also: Police parades 23 suspected bandits, kidnappers, others in Katsina

“He (Akpan) later came to my shrine and said that he wanted to use her (Josephine) for money ritual. He said he would give me N5 million for me to be silent. At about 10 pm on a later day, we met inside a forest with Josephine.

“I never knew Akpan had a gun with him. He brought out a cloth, spread it on the ground, and asked her to kneel for prayers. Before I could understand what was going on, he shot her in the head. He quickly grabbed a calabash and poured some of the blood gushing out from her head into the calabash. I ran home, got a hoe and we dug a shallow grave and buried her.

“When we left the forest, I asked him to bring the N5 million that he promised and he promised to give me after eight days. He came to my house later that night and gave me only N50,000. He asked me to be patient to collect the balance.”

However, Akpan, a father of five from Akwa Ibom State, denied killing the NSCDC officer, saying he loved her very much.

He stated that the victim came to visit him on December 17 to assess the wedding preparation and left safely on December 19.

By Victor Uzoho

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