The corpse of a lady declared missing by her friends a couple of days ago has been found in a shallow grave in Akwa Ibom.
She was raped and murdered by a man who advertised a fictitious job on social media to lure the young lady to his house.
Akwa Ibom State Police Command announced on Sunday it had arrested the suspected fake recruiter, Uduak Akpan, for allegedly raping and killing, Iniubong Umoren, in the Airport Road area of Uyo.
Umoren had on Thursday gone for a job interview after Akpan allegedly lured her with a fake offer on social media.
Instead of finding a job, she was raped, murdered and buried in a shallow grave by the by the fake recruiter, Akpan.
Umoren had sent a text to her friend Umoh Uduak when she was leaving for the venue of the job interview. When she became unreachable her friend became suspicious and raised alarm on twitter.
The friend in her Twitter post from the handle @UmohUduak1, alleged that she heard the victim screamed from a one-second voice note she sent, adding that efforts to reach her on the telephone proved abortive as her calls were not picked before the mobile phone became unreachable.
The hashtag #FindHinnyHumoren was soon created on social media and before long, the identity of Akpan and his location were uncovered.
When the suspect realised the matter had been blown open on social media, he ran away from his house.
The police saw the trending hashtag and responded with its Twitter handle, @PoliceNG, announcing that two suspects had been arrested.
“Anti-Kidnapping Squad of Akwa Ibom State Command is already investigating this case. As a matter of fact, two suspects have been arrested. Further updates will be provided as the investigation progresses,” the police said.
In a statement later by the state Police Public Relations Officer, Odiko Macdon, on Sunday, the police unveiled the identity of Akpan as the main suspect, announcing that he had confessed to raping and killing the victim.
“The Akwa Ibom State Police Command has arrested one Uduak Frank Akpan, 20, for kidnapping, raping and murdering one Miss Iniobong Umoren.
“On April 30, 2021, the command received a report on the disappearance of the victim. Following available leads, men of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad of the command, led by CSP Inengiye Igosi, consolidated on the initial progress made by the DPO, Uruan, SP Samuel Ezeugo, and arrested the perpetrator, who confessed to have lured his victim to his house on the pretext of giving her a job, but ended up sexually and physically assaulting her, which led to her death.
“To cover his track, he dragged and buried her in a shallow grave in his father’s compound. The deceased has been exhumed and deposited at UUTH (University of Uyo Teaching Hospital) for autopsy. The suspect confessed to have told his local government chairman of his atrocity before escaping to Calabar and was never at anytime handed over to the police by anyone.
“The suspect is a confessed serial rapist, who has owned up to raping other victims. He will be charged at the conclusion of investigation. The Commissioner of Police, Amienghene Andrew, has called on youths and job seekers to be wary of the activities of scammers and other men of the underworld.”
The case drew a crowd of sympathisers who besieged the state police headquarters, Ikot Akpan Abia, Uyo, on Sunday to protest the gruesome murder of the young woman.
The command spokesperson, MacDon, assured the crowd that the principal suspect, Akpan, had confessed to the crime.
He also told them investigation would be swift and discreet.
