Police: How 3 brothers murdered an Abuja-based widow lured through Facebook

Three brothers have been arrested over the abduction of Janet Nnenna Ogbonnaya, a 55-year-old widow who was murdered after honouring the invitation of one of them who was her friend on Facebook.

Police operatives attached to the intelligence response unit of the inspector-general of police arrested them in Imo state where they reportedly fled to after the woman was killed in Abuja on May 14, 2020.

The three suspects are 38-year-old Johnson Emmanuel, 31-year-old Gideon Emmanuel, and 27-year-old Success Emmanuel.

According to a statement signed by Frank Mbah, police public relations officer, on Thursday, the suspects killed the woman after serving her with a drink laced with drugs.

“Investigations that led to the arrest of the suspects is sequel to complaints received from one Chinedu Ogbonnaya who alleged that his mother, Mrs Janet Nnenna Ogbonnaya, 55 yrs, native of Ozuitem in Bende LGA of Abia State had been kidnapped and a 5-million naira ransom demanded before she could be released,” Mbah said.

“A comprehensive and painstaking investigation by the police operatives resulted in the arrest of the three (3) suspects, whom, in the course of interrogation, revealed that the victim had long been murdered and buried.

“Further findings revealed that the victim, a widow, who had been a Facebook friend of the principal suspect – Johnson Emmanuel, was lured from her home in Gwagwalada to visit the suspect.

“The suspect thereafter took advantage of the visit, served her yoghurt laced with drugs and subsequently had her murdered. The suspect, having killed the victim and buried her remains in a septic tank, went ahead to reach out to the family of the victim using her phone and demanded 5-million naira ransom as pre-condition for her release.”

He added that the suspects led a team of investigators, which included pathologists, to a residence at Wumba District, Lokogoma, Abuja, where the woman’s decomposing body was found.

The corpse was exhumed from a septic tank and taken to the University Teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada, Abuja, for forensic examination, according to Mba.

“A Toyota Highlander Jeep belonging to the deceased has also been recovered by Police operatives at a mechanic workshop in Apo where it had been repainted into a different colour, vehicle documents fraudulently changed and ownership of the stolen vehicle criminally transferred to one of the masterminds of the crime – Johnson Emmanuel,” he added.

“Investigations also revealed that the house where the deceased was killed and buried originally belonged to one of the suspects but was hurriedly sold off to a third party apparently to obliterate evidence.

“The Inspector-General of Police, IGP M.A Adamu, NPM, mni, while commending the operatives for a job well done, reassures that perpetrators of any form of crimes in the country will not go undetected and unpunished. He, however, enjoins citizens to be more security conscious and report any suspicious activities within their neighbourhood to the nearest police station.