Three arrested for robbing, raping, killing Edo woman

The Edo State Police Command has arrested three suspects for the murder of a female trader after robbing, gang-raping and killing her on her way to the market on Evbuosa Road, Obozogbe, in the Orhiomwon Local Government Area of the state.

It was gathered that the three men accosted the woman and dispossessed her of N30,000 after which they dragged her into a nearby bush, where they took turns to rape her and left her with life-threatening injuries, which resulted in her death.

The vigilante group in the area said some persons, who were in the farm, heard the woman screaming but could not find her when they got to the scene, because the suspects had dragged her farther into the bush.

One of the vigilantes, who spoke on condition of anonymity said, “What gave out the suspects was a shirt belonging to a villager, which was found at the scene of the incident.

“The owner of the shirt was later identified to be one Destiny Osa, who was subsequently arrested by the vigilantes and handed over to men of the Ugo Police Division, who in turn handed him over to personnel of the Anti-Kidnapping and Cyber Crime Unit of the Edo State Police Command for further investigation,” he added.

Osa told the police how they attacked, robbed, raped and murdered the woman in the bush around 7 am and took them to arrest the other two members of the gang, Etim Zion and Samuel Jeremiah, both from Akwa Ibom State but resident in the area.

In the course of the police investigation, the woman’s attachment hair and her wrapper were recovered from the scene of the crime.

Osa later led the police investigative team to the bush, where the victim was gang-raped.

The woman’s body has been deposited in the mortuary for autopsy and further investigation.

When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Chidi Nwabuzor, confirmed the incident and said no one had come to claim the trader’s corpse.

He advised anyone whose family member left home since Saturday, December 19, 2020, for Evbuosa around Obozogbe and had yet to return to contact the office of the Anti-Kidnapping/Cybercrime Unit of the state police command in Benin.

The PPRO gave an assurance that the suspects would be charged.