An ex-policeman, Ogwu Christian, has been arrested for allegedly killing his fiancée’s mother, Veronica Obiejieogo, over the cancellation of their wedding date.
Christian reportedly shot the 45-year-old woman dead at short range while she was walking along a street in her village in Delta State. He thereafter fled the scene on a motorcycle.
City Round learnt that his wedding to Obiejieogo’s daughter, Blessing, had been fixed for December 27, 2018.
He had reportedly given Blessing money to buy clothes and some other items they would use on that day.
Few days to the ceremony, it was learnt that 39-year-old Christian noticed that Blessing was evasive as he no longer got updates on the wedding plans from her.
It was gathered that when it became clear that the wedding would not hold as scheduled, Christian went to Blessing’s village in Otolokpo and killed her mother, whom he accused of cancelling the event.
He relocated to Port Harcourt, Rivers State, afterwards.
Our correspondent learnt that operatives of the Inspector-General of Police Intelligence Response Team went after Christian following a petition to the IGP, Mohammed Adamu, on the incident.
After months of tracking him, the suspect was arrested recently in Port Harcourt, while he allegedly was about to carry out a fraudulent deal.
The police said Christian, who was dismissed from the Force in 2005, had been parading himself as a senior officer to defraud members of the public and policemen seeking promotion.
In an interview with City Round during the week, the native of Afor in the Ndukwa East Local Government area of Delta State, confessed to the murder of his fiancée’s mother, adding that he believed the victim discouraged her daughter from marrying him.
He stated that he was frustrated and felt betrayed after he had planned big for the wedding.
He recalled, “I met Blessing at Ogwuachukwu Polytechnic, Delta State, where she was a student. She told me she was single and we started a relationship. In the process, she became pregnant but she aborted it. She said she could not have a child for me because I wasn’t known to her family.
“In April 2018, I went for a formal introduction and her family asked me to come back for a more elaborate ‘introduction ceremony.’ On September 7, 2018, I went back with my family for the ceremony and they gave us the list of things required for the marriage. In October, Blessing informed me that she was pregnant. We then fixed the wedding for December 27, 2018 and I gave her money to buy clothes that we would use for the marriage.
“On December 5, 2018, she called me and said she was on her way to Asaba, where I resided and after waiting for her for a long time, I called her, but she didn’t pick up her calls. One of her brothers known as Friday informed me that she had a miscarriage and was at the hospital in Asaba with her mother. I went to the hospital but I was not allowed to see Blessing and her mother.
“Some days later, I called her to know what was going on. She told me she was in her friend’s place in Asaba. I went there but I didn’t see her after waiting all day.
“On December 21, 2018, she told me on the phone that she had travelled to Lagos. I became very angry and met with one of my friends known as Steven.”
The ex-policeman explained that he rented a gun with two live cartridges from Steven for N10,000 and headed for his fiancée’s village on December 26, 2018 – the eve of the thwarted wedding.
He said shortly before he killed Obiejieogo, he took some alcohol and drugs to toughen up.
He added, “I went to a shop close to my fiancée’s house and bought a bottle of dry gin and Tramadol. I took them at once to get inspiration so that I would not change my mind. While I was at the shop, I sighted her mother and her younger brother walking towards my direction. I went to them, brought out my gun and shot the woman. I then zoomed off on a motorcycle and relocated to Rivers State.”
But a police source disclosed that the deceased discouraged her daughter from marrying Christian after she discovered he was a fraudster.
“The incident that got the deceased angry was when Christian defrauded two residents of her community, whom he had offered to help secure jobs at the Federal Road Safety Commission. He collected N25,000 each from the victims, but he didn’t get them the jobs as promised,” the source added.
Narrating his escapades as a fraudster, Christian said he joined a gang after he was dismissed from the Nigeria Police Force over a gun allegedly snatched away from him by some armed robbers at a checkpoint.
He said, “I attended training at the Police College, Ikeja, Lagos. I was posted to the Edo State Police Command, where I served for five years before I was dismissed. I joined a fraud syndicate operating in Asaba. The man who initiated me into the syndicate taught me all the tricks.
“I started using my police experience to defraud people. I adopted the rank of an Assistant Superintendent of Police and people started coming to me for assistance.
“Some policemen, who wanted promotion, paid me to help them because I told them I was working in the IGP’s office in Abuja. People who wanted to get recruited into the police also came to me and I usually collected N150,000 per person.
“Those applying for Cadet ASP, paid me N400,000 each. In some cases, I succeeded in helping them, using my connections.”
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