Murder of alleged prostitute: Abia police nab two

UMUAHIA — TWO suspects are currently
telling the Abia State Police Command
what they know about the death of a 16-
year-old girl, whose name was simply
given as Esther.
The decomposing body of Esther, said to
be from Ebonyi State was found in an
uncompleted building around the Cattle
Market, Gariki, in Lokpanta, Umunneochi
Local Government Area of Abia State.
Until her death, Esther was alleged to be
a girl of easy virtue, a trade she was said
to have plied at the Lokpanta Cattle
Market.
The suspects, Uchenna Okorie and Levi
Nwankwo, are currently with the Criminal
Investigation Department, CID, where
they are helping the police in their
investigation into what happened to
Esther.
It was, however, not possible, according
to the police, to know if any part of her
body was tampered with because of the
decomposed nature of the remains.
According to the police, on the night of
Thursday, July 11, 2013, one of the
suspects, Uchenna Okorie, said to be
Esther's lover, engaged the service of the
other suspect, Levi Nwankwo, an Okada
operator, to take Esther to his house.
Levi Nwankwo, the police said, claimed
that he picked the girl as instructed by
Uchenna Okorie and that when he got to
Okorie's home, he was not around but he
dropped Esther there and asked her to
wait for her boyfriend.
According to him, she sat under a mango
tree in the compound before he left.
However, some days later Esther's
decomposing corpse was found in an
uncompleted building.
According to the police, it was the stench
from the decomposed body that attracted
the people around the area, which led to
the discovery of Esther's body. The
incident, the police said, was reported by
one Friday Eke.
Before then, it was reported that
Esther's colleagues at the Cattle Market
had raised alarm that they did not see her
for a couple of days.
However, the clue that led to the arrest
of the two suspects, the police said, was
given by one Mercy Sunday, said to be a
food vendor at the Gariki, who gave the
information that she saw when the late
Esther was carried on an Okada by Levi to
Uchenna's house.
Contacted, the Abia State Police
Commissioner, Mr. Usman Tilli Abubakar,
confirmed the incident and said the police
would get to the root of the matter.
Abubakar said whether Esther was a
prostitute or not, she deserved to live,
hence the police's on-going investigation
must unravel what happened to her.