A youth pastor suspected to internet fraudster, identified as Joseph Fekala has allegedly strangled a girl, Kate Ogwoh, who was said to be his love interest, to death and buried the corpse in a shallow grave in his bedroom.
The incident reportedly occured on Friday July 29, 2022, at Okaka community in Yenagoa, the state capital.
The incident threw the residents of the area into a state of panic.
A neighbour who spoke on the condition of anonymity on the Incident explained that the suspect’s activities had been a source of concern to the people in the neighborhood.
He said the 27-year-old murder suspect was in the habit of taking different girls to his apartment, but there had not been any incident of killing until now.
Another source, who craved anonymity, said the deceased was a dealer in clothes.
The source said: “She used to sell clothes. The suspect owed her N50, 000 and she went to get the money from him yesterday (Thursday).
“No one heard from her until this Friday morning when her mother went looking for her at the man’s house and saw the shallow grave, that’s when she raised the alarm.
“Until her death, she was a member of Christ Embassy Church in Yenagoa while Joseph was a youth pastor in a Pentecostal Church. He isn’t a ‘Yahoo boy’ as speculated in some quarters.”
The state’s Police spokesman SP Asinim Butswat confirmed the incident.
When contacted, spokesman of the Bayelsa command of Nigerian Police, SP Asinim Butswat, confirmed the incident, adding that the suspect has been arrested and is being detained at the State Criminal investigation Department.
Butswat said, “Joseph Fekala, 27 years of Ikibiri Community, but residing at OKAKA, strangled one Kate Ogwoh f 26 years to death on 28 July 2022. He buried the deceased in a shallow grave in his bedroom.
“The suspect was arrested following a tip off by neighbours on 29 July 2022, at about 0800 hours. He is being detained at the State Criminal investigation Department. Investigation is ongoing.”
Although the motive behind this latest murder remains unknown at this time, it’s a reminder of other reported similar killings which were often attributed to ritual.
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