Tragedy occurred in Nnokwa community in Idemili South Local Government Area of Anambra State on Sunday as a policewoman was set ablaze by a squatter in her house.
NIGERIACRIME learnt that the victim was set ablaze her two children by a woman, Nnaemeka Nwosu.
According to information available to this platform, the suspect, a divorcee from Amawbia community, pleaded with the policewoman to squat in her house after she was sent out by her husband.
The victim was said to have accepted her to stay in her house for the meantime, a source from the area, however, said trouble started when the suspect had an altercation with the policewoman, resulting in the fight and her subsequently hitting the policewoman with a pestle till she fell and became unconscious.
The source who spoke anonymously said, “After that, the suspect tied the policewoman and her children together with rope, right inside their room, set them ablaze, together with the building; and they (the policewoman and her children) all got burnt.
“The suspect was first apprehended by operatives of the local vigilante and some of the villagers who were attracted by the fire, and who eventually captured her as she was trying to escape the vicinity.”
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Initially, the suspect told the police that a gas cylinder exploded when the woman and her children were boiling hot water, but she later confessed to the crime and explained how she carried out the heinous act.
Confirming the incident, the Anambra State Police spokesman, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, said the suspect has been arrested and the case transferred to State Criminal Investigation Department in Awka for further investigations.
He said the corpses of the policewoman and her children have been deposited at the mortuary.
DSP Ikenga, who also gave a brief narration of how the incident happened, further revealed that the case had been transferred to the State Investigation Department for further investigation and prosecution.
“Preliminary information revealed that the policewoman accommodated the suspect while she was searching for a house. The two women had a disagreement which resulted in a fight before the suspect hit the woman police on her head with a pestle.
“While she became unconscious, she tied her with her two kids and set them ablaze. The bodies of the victims have been recovered and deposited in the morgue. Further development shall be communicated,” Ikenga added.