The mother of two children who went missing, Mercy Henry, has been found.
The body of the 35-year-old woman was discovered disfigured and buried in various sacs behind a building purportedly owned by the key suspect.
“The breakthrough in the investigation was claimed to have began after the Police apprehended four others beside the suspect,” Pa Ekienabor continued.
During interrogation, the detectives assured the four suspects that they would not be penalized if they provided them with important information.
One of the four individuals raised his hand and then gave the cops information. Police proceeded to the location, investigated the house, and pinpointed Mercy’s grave.
“Police recovered her handbag, Automated Teller Machine (ATM) card and her phone. These items were hidden in one of the uncompleted houses inside the blocks there. Till tomorrow, Mayowa is still denying knowing anything about the matter, but when the police brought him out of the cell after interrogating the other four suspects; he saw them and almost collapsed. Yes, he knows them.
“They are working together, so he couldn’t deny it.”
Pa Ekienabor, who opined that the suspect probably killed Mercy for money ritual purposes, added: “All the men of God, women of God, pastors, Bishops, I went to, all assured me Mercy was being kept somewhere, that we should pray, that she would come out, we didn’t know that she had been killed and buried for long. Yes, she was killed three minutes after her friend, transferred N30,000 into the suspectsFirst Bank Account.”
Mercy on December, 16, told her family that she was heading to Ijegun, a suburb of the Ikotun area of Lagos State; she however, never mentioned the name of the person she was going to visit. Ekienabor said: “On December 16th I got a call from my son that Mercy didn’t return home to sleep.
“She had told everyone she was going to Ijegun, but she didn’t mention the name of the person she was going to see. That same night, her siblings started calling all her friends, asking if they had heard or seen Mercy.
“One of her friends residing at Port Harcourt, named Ayo, said that she spoke with Mercy at noon time. She said that Mercy called, asking for a loan of N30, 000, that she needed it for treatment at a trado-medical home, that she was short of blood and getting leaner. Ayo told us that she paid the money into a First Bank account given to her by Mercy. The money landed in the account at 1:59pm and at 2:02pm, Mercy’s phone number stopped going. Since then, we’ve not been able to reach her.”
The following day, the anxious family members dashed to Gowon Police Station to make a formal complaint, declaring Mercy missing. Using the information supplied by Ayo, the police went to First Bank and with the assistance of the Bank, ; the account holder that received the N30, 000, was arrested. He, however, denied seeing Mercy.
Pa Ekienabor said: “He claimed to have seen Mercy four years ago when she came to his traditional birth centre to deliver a baby girl. But his phone history and chats showed that he and Mercy spoke on December 15th about 9pm. Now, if you call her phone it would be switched off, but at night it would ring twice or thrice, then it would be switched off. It shows that someone used to charge it.
“The children of Mercy, following her disappearance, had been asking for her, but relatives told them their mom would soon be home, unaware she had been killed and buried.”
The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Adekunle Ajisebutu, who confirmed the disappearance of Mercy and arrest of the suspect last week, while speaking with our reporter on the latest development, said: “It’s true some suspects have been arrested and exhibits recovered. We will make a comprehensive press statement soon.”
Ojelabi, the publisher of Freelanews, is an award winning and professionally trained mass communicator, who writes ruthlessly about pop culture, religion, politics and entertainment.
