Operatives of Obowo Divisional Police Headquarters, in collaboration with community youths, have arrested two suspects linked to the rape and gruesome murder of Wendy Achumba, a 21-year-old nursing student of Mercy College of Nursing Science, Umulogho, whose lifeless body was found in her off-campus residence at Umuadara, Umulogho, Obowo, LGA, Imo State.

The spokesperson of the Imo Police, Henry Okoye, in a press statement, said the two suspects were identified as Onyema Okonkwo, 32, and Emmanuel Onyekachi, 25. Both are natives of the community where the crime was allegedly committed.

Okoye said the two suspects were arrested following sustained, intelligence-led investigative efforts by operatives of the Division in synergy with Community stakeholders.

During the investigation, the suspects revealed that they had raped her on multiple occasions before killing her.

One of the suspects, Okonkwo, in his confession, said the victim identified their faces and to conceal the crime, they went after her life, hitting her with a stick and a machete.

The suspects, according to Okoye, have been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department, SCID, for discreet and comprehensive investigation and will be prosecuted upon the conclusion of investigations.

Following the development, the Police Commissioner of the State Command, Audu Garba Bosso, assured the public that the matter will be handled with utmost diligence and professionalism, and that anyone found culpable will face the full weight of the law.

He added that further updates on the matter will be communicated in due course.

The Kano State Police Command has arrested three suspects and recovered stolen vehicles in a crackdown on car theft in the state.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Abdullahi Haruna Kiyawa, disclosed this in a statement issued on Sunday.

He said the arrests were made on May 16 when operatives of the Command’s Special Intervention Squad acted on credible intelligence and apprehended three suspects linked to a stolen Toyota Camry.

The suspects were identified as Abel Nanlir Nafa from Abuja, Stephen Wanneh from Kaduna State, and Habiba Mohammad from Kano State.

According to the statement, one of the suspects admitted that the vehicle, a black Toyota Camry 2015 model without a registration number, was stolen from Enugu State and handed to him for sale.

“The suspect confessed that the vehicle was stolen and he was aware of its status when he received it for sale,” the police said.

The police added that the second suspect also knew the car was stolen and was invited to assist in selling it, while the third suspect said she contacted a buyer from the Niger Republic who agreed to purchase the vehicle for N1.5 million.

The stolen Toyota Camry has since been recovered, while efforts are ongoing to arrest other suspects still at large and identify the rightful owner.

In a related development, the command also recovered two additional suspected stolen vehicles during a follow-up operation at the residence of a fleeing suspect identified as Haruna Ibrahim in Kano.

The recovered vehicles include a red Hyundai Sonata 2016 model without a registration number and an ash-coloured Hyundai Elantra 2014 model with registration number KMC 523 TF.

“The Command urges anyone who recognises any of the recovered vehicles to come forward with proof of ownership,” the statement said.

The Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Adamu Bakori, commended the operatives for their efforts, noting that the operation reflects the success of intelligence-led policing.

He also called on residents to remain vigilant and continue to support the police with timely information, assuring that all reports would be treated confidentially.

A residential building on Tewo-Gbore Street, Ogele Ori-Sunbare, in the Eyenkorin area of Asa Local Government Area of Kwara State, was gutted by fire in the early hours of Sunday.

A room-and-parlour self-contained apartment and a two-bedroom flat were affected in the incident, which occurred around 12:38 a.m.

The spokesperson for the Kwara State Fire Service, Hassan Adekunle, in a statement on Sunday, explained that firefighters responded immediately after receiving a distress call from the area.

The statement said the timely intervention of the firefighters prevented the blaze from spreading to nearby structures and limited the extent of the damage recorded during the incident.

The spokesperson said, “Preliminary investigations traced the cause of the fire to improperly quenched charcoal stored within the vicinity of the residential building.”

Findings, according to Adekunle, showed that sacks of charcoal had just been unloaded, and part of the charcoal was not completely extinguished. He said that, upon exposure to air, the residual heat reignited and worsened the situation, resulting in the fire spreading to the building.

Alabi Muhammed, Director of the Kwara State Fire Service, while reacting to the incident, advised charcoal dealers, transporters, and residents against the careless handling and storage of combustible materials capable of retaining heat.

He stressed the need to avoid storing combustible materials close to residential buildings and urged residents to remain vigilant and promptly report fire outbreaks to emergency responders.

The agency assured the public of its commitment to safeguarding lives and property through proactive emergency response and public safety sensitisation across the state.