Pregnant Woman Killed For Rituals

Arrested suspect yesterday at the Akwa Ibom State Police Headquarters, Ikot-Akpanabia, Uyo, state Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Cordelia Nwawe, said the suspect who

was the victim’s customer, lured a pregnant woman to the market to buy oysters, later took her home to buy more, then killed and hid her body, hoping to harvest the foetus for rituals.

The suspect was arrested by the police on January 11 through the combined efforts of his brother and sister (names withheld) who reported the matter to the police, and the body was found by the police on a plantain farm.

Twenty-eight year-old man, Edet Stephen Asuquo, yesterday, made revealing statements to the Akwa Ibom State Police Command on how he was hired by a village council leader in Itu Local Government Area to kill a pregnant woman for ritual purposes.

Nwawe said the suspect’s sister, who witnessed the act, reported to her elder brother who later alerted the police.

The suspect, Asuquo, told newsmen: “What brought me to the police station is because of the job given to us by a village council chairman.

“He paid five of us to kill a pregnant woman so her head and her unborn child would be used for charms.

“He said after we have carried out the job, he will give us N50,000 each. He did not give us any advance payment. After we had done the job, my brother became angry.

“He said that this is not the kind of job I should have gotten myself involved in. He called my other senior and reported the matter to him.”