The Rivers State Police Command on Monday said an investigation had commenced to track down the suspects who killed a mother of two, Chigbewejim Steward, in Abarikpo community, in the Ahoada East Local Government Area of Rivers State.
PUNCH Metro gathered that suspected members of the Iceland cult group abducted Chigbewejim to an undisclosed location in the community where she was gang-raped to death.
It was learnt that Chigbewejim’s family, while frantically searching to locate her whereabouts, discovered her remains in the location where the suspects perpetrated the crime.
The discovery threw the family members of the mother of two into mourning as members of the community condemned the incident.
Speaking to our correspondent on Monday, Chigbewejim’s husband, Lawyer, who was said to be a pastor, said a known cultist in the community, identified simply as Sunday, was behind the attack, adding that the cultist accused his wife of gossiping about him.
He said, “I am the husband of Chigbejim, who was murdered yesterday by a group of boys. After raping her, they murdered her. I am not a cultist; I am an Assistant Pastor in charge of evangelism at the Seventh Day Adventist Church, Abarikpo.
“She gave birth to three children but one of the children is late. My daughter is seven, and the little boy is three-years-old. One boy, Sunday, a cultist, claimed he slaughtered my wife because people told him my wife usually talked against him. That is the reason he gave for murdering her.”
The bereaved husband, while demanding justice for his wife’s death, urged security agencies in the state to track down her killers.
“The Ahoada Police Division in Ahoada LGA led by the Divisional Police Officer visited the scene on Sunday evening. I am calling on the government and the police to help me arrest the boys that kidnapped my wife, raped and murdered her and make them pay for what they did to my wife,” the pastor said.
Reacting to the development, the Public Relations Officer, Igbu Akoh Clan Youth Congress, Ahoada East LGA, Ekeakita Chinem, said people in the community had been living in fear over attacks and killings by criminal elements, adding that political leaders and government agencies had abandoned them.
He said, “We have been having a series of killing in Akoh and when they kill, nobody or security people go after the bad boys. Mrs (Chigbewejim) Steward was kidnapped around 1am only for us to find out around 10am that she died after being raped.
“She had bruises on her private parts, and there was blood stain around her thighs and all over her body. People are living in fear because no political leaders or government agencies go after them.”
Meanwhile, the National Coordinator, Centre for Basic Rights Protection and Accountability Campaign, Prince Wiro, while condemning the abduction and killing of Chigbewejim, urged the police to carry out a proper investigation with a view to apprehending the culprits and making them face justice.
Contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Grace Iringe-Koko, said the case of murder was reported, adding that the claim that Chigbewejim was gang-raped was yet to be ascertained.
She said, “I don’t know of gang rape but what I know is that a case of case murder was reported at the Ahoada Police Station. The Divisional Police Office is already on the case. An investigation has commenced with a view to apprehending the culprits.”
