The Ebonyi State Police Command has arrested four suspects over the alleged abduction and killing of a student of Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu Alike in Ikwo Local Government Area of the state, Magnus Okeke.
The spokesperson of the Ebonyi State Police Command, DSP Joshua Ukandu, confirmed in a phone call that the Command has launched an investigation into the matter to unravel the reason behind the killing of the student.
“Four persons have been arrested in connection with the incident. It is still under investigation to establish if he was kidnapped for ransom if he was murdered, or if it is cult related. The suspects are still being interrogated,” Ukandu said.
The university management in a press statement released by the Public Relations Officer, Elom Ubochi, stated that the university management was working closely with the police and other security agencies to ensure that the student was rescued upon getting the report of his abduction.
However, all efforts made to rescue him alive failed, as the decomposing body of the victim was recovered under the bridge of Akọ stream at Nwakpu village, along the Ikwo/Abakaliki road on Monday, 17th June 2024, two weeks after his disappearance.
According to preliminary reports from security agencies, the alleged perpetrators of the heinous crime were youths from Ohankwu village.
Ubochi further explained that there was no cult-related war on the university campus in which the victim was killed as insinuated in some quarters. The PRO appealed to anyone with useful information that could aid in the investigation to come forward and assist the authorities.
The deceased Magnus Okeke was a student of the Department of Accountancy before his abduction on 1st June 2024, while on his way back to the private hostel where he was residing at Ohankwu village in Ndufu-Alike community.