By Patrick Ochei
The police in Delta have arrested an okada rider by name Onoriode Simon who was alleged to be complicit in the murder of a fish trader lured to a nearby farm to purchase fresh pepper on a market day at Umeh in Isoko South LGA of Delta state.
It was on Wednesday 4th August, 2021, the Delta State Police Commissioner, CP Ari Mohammed Ali paraded 16 suspected criminals for their involvement in various degrees of crime within the state.
Among those paraded is the suspect, Onos Simon alleged to have killed the single mother after raping her and plucking off her two eyes before burying her under grasses in the bush.
From Onoriode’s narration, his friend Akpos, contracted him to use his motorcycle to convey a woman who wanted to buy pepper from his farm. On getting to the farm where Akpos parked his motorcycle, there was no pepper farm around.
However, Akpos convinced them that those harvesting the pepper were inside the farm. In the meantime, the woman was apprehensive that the journey had become longer than she expected and opted to go back. But Akpos further convinced her.
Now as they were going, she in front and Akpos following before Onos, and suddenly Akpos brought out cutlass and cut the woman from behind. Onos said he asked Akpos what he had done but he told him not to worry that nothing would happen.
Onos said the woman was buried inside grasses and N40, 000 was taken from her. And they left, while he (Onos) remained quiet without telling anybody until the victim’s people started searching for her after three days.
Eventually, Onos was arrested as the last person seen with the woman and he confessed to the crime and led the investigators to the crime scene.
Meanwhile, when asked if he shared from the N40,000 stolen from the woman, he concurred. He also alluded to his earlier confessional statement of raping the victim and selling off her two plucked eyes for about N100, 000 with his accomplice, as read out by the CP.
As at press time, both Akpos and the native doctor who purchased the woman’s two eyes for rituals were still at large while investigation is ongoing.
