WOMAN VISITS ANAMBRA POLICE HQ, IDENTIFIES GUNMAN WHO ROBBED, RAPED HER AT GUN POINT
A 24-year-old graduate of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka has accused a suspect already in police custody of robbing and raping her at gunpoint at a hotel in Awka, the Anambra State capital, on July 11, 2023.
The victim (name witheld) who came toĀ complaint at the Force Headquarters in Awka on Tuesday, also identified her phone among the phones recovered from the suspect.
The suspect, Akuchieani Echezona, a male resident of Ifite Awka, was arrested on July 20 at a popular hotel in Awka been monitored by a team of surveillance operatives from the Anambra State Police Command.
He was subsequently taken into custody at the State Criminal Investigation Department, where he has been making confessional statements.
Following the publication of the suspectās photo, the victim stormed the Force Headquarters and identified the suspect and her stolen phone among the phones in his possession.
She stated that the suspect was among the criminals that abducted her when she boarded a tricycle along Ifite to Aroma Junction in Awka on July 11.
She said the suspect and his gang took her to a hotel within the area, dispossessed her of her personal belongings and raped her before she was allowed to go.
Following the publication of the suspectās photo, the victim stormed the Force Headquarters and identified the suspect and her stolen phone among the phones in his possession.
She stated that the suspect was among the criminals that abducted her when she boarded a tricycle along Ifite to Aroma Junction in Awka on July 11.
She said the suspect and his gang took her to a hotel within the area, dispossessed her of her personal belongings and raped her before she was allowed to go.
The state police spokesman, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, confirmed the development, adding that the suspect admitted to robbing the victim at gunpoint but denied the rape charge.
Ikenga said, āFollowing the publication of a picture of the gunman arrested at a popular hotel in Awka two days ago by the Anambra State Police Command, a 24-year-old graduate of Nnamdi Azikiwe University has come forward to allege that the suspect robbed and raped her at gunpoint at another hotel in Awka on July 11, 2023.
āShe stated that the suspect was among the criminals that abducted her when she boarded a tricycle along Ifite to Aroma Junction on 10/7/2023, took her to a hotel within the area, dispossessed her of her personal belongings and raped her before she was allowed to go.
“The victim, who looked traumatised, identified her phone among the phones recovered from the suspect.
āWhen interrogated on the new allegation, the suspect admitted to robbing the victim at gunpoint, but denied the rape charge. He also provided names of his two accomplices.ā
He added that two more pistols have been recovered from the suspect through the management of the hotel he lodged.
āManagement of yet another hotel where the suspect lodged, on seeing the police publication, had alerted the Police that the suspect lodged in one of the hotel rooms before his arrest at another hotel.
Detectives then proceeded to the hotel and searched the room where he lodged, only to discover two more Berreta Pistols among his personal effects.
āInformation has been received that the suspect is responsible for the murder of at least two persons in separate incidents in Awka in the last three months,ā Ikenga said.
He, however, stated that the Commissioner of Police, CP Aderemi Adeoye, has ordered detectives to leave no stone unturned in their investigation in order to protect society and get justice for victims of the suspectās alleged crimes.
The suspect will be arraigned in court after the conclusion of the investigation.