Man strangles wife in Bayelsa, arrested on his way to Ghana

An Australian returnee, Stephen Ogho-Oghene Akpata, has been arrested by the police in Bayelsa State for allegedly killing his wife, an employee of Glo network, Onyinye, after making love to her for about an hour.

Akpata, who confessed to committing the dastardly act when paraded by the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Amba Asuquo, was arrested in Lagos following his failed attempt to flee to Ghana.

Asuquo said the incident was first reported to the police on August 16 around 2:00p.m. when one Moses Awo complained that Onyinye, 33, failed to report to her place of work. He said Awo told the police that some workers went to her apartment in search of her and discovered that the door was locked but that her television set was on and loud.

Asuquo said a police team, who went to the apartment found the body of the deceased, who hailed from Abia State, in the pool of her blood.
He said: “The room was scattered and the deceased was lying dead facing the ground in a pool of blood. We recovered three quarter knickers, a pack of canvass, one damaged pressing iron, a jean jacket, pen knife, pink underwear, a Nokia handset and a damaged wristwatch, from the scene”.

On how the deceased was killed, Amba said: “Marks of violence on the deceased’s head, face, neck and body revealed that the deceased was strangled with the pressing iron and its coil tied round her neck and stabbed with a knife.”

Speaking with newsmen, the suspect confessed to the crime, but however failed to disclose the motive for killing of the woman he had taken to the court to wed about a month ago.

He said: “Yes, she is my wife but out of dignity, respect and love of what had happened I reserve my right not to say anything because, apart from the grief the family is going through, asking me why and how I killed her, I cannot tell you.”

On how the police cracked the crime, he said: “The three quarter knickers had blood stains. We took it as a step towards the investigation. We tried to find out who was with the girl because we know that she had just contracted a registry marriage with someone, who turned out to be her husband and principal suspect in the case.

“We got in touch with the husband and he gave us the impression that he was out of town. He said he was on his way back and we kept talking to him for another two days. But he was plotting his own escape. He was moving from one hotel to the other.

So, we got in touch with some of the hotels he had lodged and got one of the taxi drivers he had used, who confirmed he had seen the man wearing the same knickers.”