Operatives of the State Criminal Investigations and Intelligence Department (SCIID) of the Rivers State Police Command have arrested the presiding pastor of Alter of Solution Church, Izuoma community in Adam, headquarters of Oyigbo local government area of Rivers State, Pastor Chidiebere Okoroafor the gruesome murder of three members of his church and an unborn baby.
Addressing newsmen at the Police headquarters in Port Harcourt on Friday, the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mr. Cyril Okoro gave the names of the victims as Ada Concila Ezeawa, Christabel Joseph and Uluoma Onweagba, all females.
Okoro, who stated that the pastor killed the trio and the unborn child in order to conceal a pregnancy he was responsible for, adding that Okoroafor had confessed to murdering the victims.
The Deputy Commissioner of Police said, “Today, I have invited you to share with you yet another achievement by the command where a Pastor, in a most bizarre manner gruesomely murdered three of his own flocks, including an unborn child.
“The unfortunate incident started unfolding when on December 11, 2017 at about 1100hrs, the whereabouts of Ada Concila ‘F’, Christabel Joseph ‘F’ and Uluoma Onweagba ‘F’ became unknown to their close ones resulting in the lodgement of a formal complaint of their disappearance at the Afam Divisional Headquarters.
“After preliminary investigation by the Police coupled with the diligent search by members of the community, the decomposing corpse of Uluoma Onweagba and baby Christabel Joseph, 9 months old, were discovered in a bush located along Afam-Igberu Road on December 13, 2017.
“Their corpses were immediately evacuated and deposited at the mortuary pending further investigation. On December 18, 2017, six days after the discovery of the corpse of Uluoma and the baby, the decomposing corpse of the real mother, one Ada Concila Ezeawa was discovered in an uncompleted building at Izuoma community in Oyigbo local government area.
“The corpse, which has decomposed rapidly was evacuated and deposited at a mortuary pending further investigation by the Police. The case was subsequently transferred to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID) for discreet investigation and report.
“Investigation commenced in earnest at the State CID with the constitution of a team of seasoned investigators headed by the Deputy Commissioner of Police, State CID, Port Harcourt. The above named pastor who was said to be having an amorous relationship with one of the deceased, Uluoma Onweagba, aged 25 years was invited, interviewed and interrogated pertaining the murder of the aforementioned deceased persons.
“He was subsequently detained as his explanations were not convincing, particularly with the information at the disposal of the investigators that the deceased persons had on December 11, 2017, informed close neighbours that they were going to visit the pastor over a pregnancy issue involving the deceased Uluoma Onweagba.
“On February 9, 2018, faced with overwhelming evidence and facts linking him with the death of the deceased persons, the pastor confessed to the commission of the said murder of all the persons.
“Dwelling on the trust the deceased persons had on him, he manipulated the two women on the said date of murder by first luring Ada Concila Ezeawa to an uncompleted building while telling the others r deceased person to waif three poles awarded that he was coming to join her.
“After strangulating the late Ada Concila Ezeawa in an uncompleted building, he bow joined Uluoma Onweagba along Afam Road where they took a tricycle (Keke) to Afam Roundabout before taking a motorcycle (Okada) to an isolated farm on Igberu Road and walked with her on a track road and gruesomely murdered her in the surrounding overgrown bush, with a baby strapped on her back. She was suffocated with the wrapper she used in strapping the baby to her back. The baby was equally discovered dead.”
