4 set 74-year-old woman in wheelchair ablaze

The operatives of the Anambra State Police Command have arrested four suspects in the Ifitedunu area of the state for allegedly setting a 74-year-old woman in a wheelchair ablaze.

The four suspects included a 21-year-old lady, Chinenye Ekwenugo, who allegedly conspired with others to kill the woman in a wheelchair.

The Anambra State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday, January 26, 2025.

Ikenga said the incident occurred at about 9 a.m. on Sunday.

He stated: “During interrogation by the police operatives, the suspect, Chinenye Ekwenugo, confessed that her boyfriend, Ifeanyi Igwe, who is currently at large and three others set the victim ablaze.

“They brought a casket to bury her before the intervention of the security operatives.”

Ikenga stated that the police operatives also recovered the burnt remains of the deceased, the wheelchair, and a casket.

The police spokesman said the police had also initiated move to arrest the main suspect, Igwe, who is currently on the run.

He said the body of the deceased has been deposited in the morgue for autopsy and further probe of the cause of her death.

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The Anambra State Commissioner of Police, Nnaghe Itam, while reacting to the incident, sued for calm and ordered the immediate transfer of the case to the homicide section of the State Criminal Investigation Department of the command for an investigation.

Ikenga further revealed that the operatives of the anti-cult unit of the command at Enugwu Ukwu, while acting on information at about 1:30 p.m. on Saturday arrested one Maduka Okoye in the Abagana area of the state.

He said the operatives also recovered three expended cartridges of a pump action gun at a shooting scene in Ezichike community of Abagana during the operation.

Ikenga said the suspect had confessed to being a member of the Baggars Confraternity.

He quoted the suspect as saying: “I was in a beer parlour drinking with my friend when the Axe Men Confraternity attacked us.”

The police spokesperson noted that the attack could have led to a cult clash before the police moved in to stop it.

“The police have since restored calm in the area,” Ikenga added.

He said the suspect has since been assisting the police in an ongoing operation for possible arrest of the fleeing gang members and already identified members of the rival cult group, especially those actively involved in the shooting.

The Star