Some suspected child traffickers have absconded with a six-month-old baby after allegedly strangling her mother, Helen Ehianu, at Obior community, in the Aniocha North Local Government Area of Delta State.
It was gathered that the 28-year-old, who had been missing since March 22, 2018, was found dead in a pit on March 24. The assailants were alleged to have absconded with her baby.
PUNCH Metro gathered that not only was the victim strangled, her legs were also broken.Residents, who reportedly sighted one of the assailants dumping the body in the pit, raised the alarm. Our correspondents learnt that before youths in the community and the police could arrive in the scene, the suspect had fled.
The immediate elder brother of the deceased, Samuel Ehianu, alleged that the victim’s friend, identified only as Precious, had a hand in her death. He said Helen and Precious left the family compound in Ekwuoma, in the Ika North East council area for Ogwashi-Uku on March 22.
According to Samuel, the friend said she was taking her to where she could be cured of epilepsy, a health condition she (Helen) had been battling for years.
He said, “On March 22, 2018, my sister’s friend came to take her to Ogwashi-Uku where she claimed that she could be cured of epilepsy. We don’t know the lady, but my sister said she knew her somewhere and that was the second time that they would be going to the place together. When they wanted to leave, Precious insisted that my sister should go with her six-month-old baby girl. My sister refused, but after some pressure, she yielded.
“After a while, my mother called them on the telephone. They promised to return in the evening. My mother waited till evening and when she did not hear from them, she called again.
“When the lady picked the call, she told my mother that my sister said she was not returning home because she wanted to start a trade there. Later on, we called, but Precious did not pick the call. Up till this moment, we have not heard from her.
“It was while we were searching for my sister that we learnt that a corpse was found at Obior. When we got there, we found my sister’s corpse in a pit. She was strangled and her corpse thrown into a pit. The police took her remains to a morgue at Issele-Uku.”
Samuel noted that residents of the area where the corpse was found claimed that they heard a “strange sound” from the apartment of a man they suspected had a hand in her death.
He explained that the suspect fled the community after the incident.
“We are suspecting that the lady and the man connived to abduct the baby and that was why they lured my sister to the place. We can’t find her baby. We can’t also find the friend and her telephone line has not been reachable.
“We want justice for my sister. We want the two suspects arrested and brought to book. There is evidence that she was strangled; she did not die from epilepsy. There were several marks on her throat and her legs were broken,” Samuel added.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Andrew Aniamaka, confirmed the incident, adding that the case had been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department.