The Police Command in the Federal Capital Territory has ordered an investigation into the alleged rape and murder of Ifeoma Abugu, a graduate of the Institute of Management and Technology, Enugu.
DSP Anjuguri Manzah, spokesman for the command, said the FCT Commissioner of Police, Bala Ciroma, had ordered a discreet investigation and post-mortem on the corpse to determine the real cause of Ifeoma’s death.
The FCT Command was reacting to media reports on Monday that the deceased was sexually molested and subsequently murdered by the personnel of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, FCT Command, on September 10, 2020.
The reports said three policemen from the Squad came to the residence of Afam Ugwunwa, Ifeoma’s fiancé by 5pm, at Wumba village in the Lokogoma area of Abuja, to arrest him for an undisclosed offence. In Ugwunwa’s absence, the Police took Ifeoma away being the only person they met in the apartment.
There was no information about the Police station to which she was taken, and Ugwunwa did get any communication from the Police until the following morning, when he was informed through a phone call that Ifeoma had died and her corpse deposited at a morgue.
Ifeoma’s brother, Alex, said the deceased, who had just concluded her National Youth Service Corps mandatory service, was arrested and killed four days after she had her traditional marriage ‘introduction’ with Ugwunwa in Enugu State.
He said, “I was in Lagos when one of my junior brothers called me that he learnt that SARS arrested our sister and she died in detention.
“I just came to Abuja today (Sunday) and I have asked some of my uncles, who have been to the police station, and they said that the policemen alleged that they met my sister unconscious on the bed and they carried her to hospital, where she died.”
“Consequent upon this, the Commissioner of Police, Bala Ciroma, has ordered a discreet investigation and post-mortem to unravel the true cause of death,” Manzah said.
“While sympathising with the family and friends of the deceased, the command wants to assure the public that it will be professional and transparent in the investigation.”
