A tricyclist identified simply as IK has allegedly beaten his female lover, a mother of two, to death before abandoning her corpse alongside their two children in Ogbogoro, Obio/Akpor Local Council of Rivers State.
The incident reportedly occurred along the CPM Street axis of Ogbogoro on Tuesday.
Residents of the area discovered the lifeless body of the woman and her two children inside a stationary tricycle at about 7:00 a.m., while the suspect was said to have fled after abandoning them.
A resident, Mr Senibo, who spoke with reporters, said the disturbing scene attracted passers-by and residents, who subsequently alerted the police.
According to him, officers from the Ozuoba Police Division had arrived at the scene by the time he got there.
He said the older child, said to be about six years old, told investigators that her father assaulted her mother with an object at a guest house where the family spent the night on Monday.
“The child told the police that her father used an object to beat her mother. She said that when her mother could no longer stand or speak, he drove them out of the guest house and later abandoned them in the tricycle,” the witness said.
Confirming the incident, the spokesperson for the Rivers State Police Command, ASP Agabe Blessing Kaborlo, said the Ozuoba Police Division received information from a passer-by who noticed a woman and two children inside a blue tricycle parked by the roadside.
She said a patrol team was immediately dispatched to the location.
“The Ozuoba Police Division patrol team swiftly moved to the scene, where officers found the lifeless body of a woman and two children aged about five years and six months respectively,” Agabe said.
She added that the five-year-old child informed police officers that her father assaulted her mother during the night, leaving her seriously injured.
According to the police spokesperson, the suspect allegedly rushed the woman to an undisclosed hospital after noticing her deteriorating condition, but she was pronounced dead.
“The suspect subsequently abandoned the children and the corpse inside the tricycle before fleeing,” she added.
Agabe disclosed that the deceased was later identified by her sister, who was contacted by the police.
She said the remains of the woman had been deposited in a mortuary for preservation and autopsy, while investigations into the circumstances surrounding her death were ongoing.
The police spokesperson further revealed that custody of the two children had been handed over to the deceased’s sister, adding that efforts had been intensified to track down and arrest the fleeing suspect.
The Guardian
