Twenty-six-year-old Sarah Nwankpo is now cooling her heels in the custody of the Rivers State Criminal Investigation Department. It was for the murder of her male friend, Igbodike Anthony, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

She admitted to having stabbed the deceased during an argument over more sex, in his apartment Obiri-Ikwerre area residence.

During interrogation, it was discovered that she had sneaked out of her boyfriend’s place for the deceased’s residence on December 22, 2023.

Sarah is a Senior Secondary School 3 drop-out who left her hometown in Ezza South Local Government in Ebonyi State, in 2016, in search of greener pastures.

Invitation of death

The incident, as gathered, occurred four months after she moved into Port Harcourt. She claimed that the deceased had been disturbing her with calls to visit him.

She said: “I met him (late Igbodike ) in 2017, in Enugu. When I left my hometown, I went to Enugu where I had two children for a man. I left Enugu for Port Harcourt in August 2023.

“In Port Harcourt, I started dating a man, Joe Ibanga. But I always received calls from Anthony, inviting me to come visit him. Sometimes he sent me money for transport. But I declined because of my relationship with Ibanga.

“On December 22, 2023, he called again and invited me to come over to his place.

“I took an Okada (commercial motorbike) from my residence in Aluu, to meet with Anthony at Kilimanjaro, by Choba junction. He paid the okada rider N500.”

She further stated that she accompanied him to pay his staff their salary for December.

Continuing, she said: “Thereafter, he took me out for shopping on groceries. We went to his apartment at Mercy-land extension, Obiri-Ikwerre. He told me to prepare a meal for him. He had his shower, ate and we had sex. We recorded the sessions for keeps.”

During discussion, she said when she opened up on her affairs with Ibanga, “he laughed at the idea of me dealing with the challenges of raising children and struggling with a relationship that was not financially rewarding.

He offered to help me out of poverty if I discontinued my relationship with Ibanga and married him instead.

He assured me he would offer me a job in his establishment in January 2024 and that he would make me a Manager at his firm. I agreed to visit him again after a week so that we could begin plans to live our lives together.”

Twist of event

However, she stated that a few minutes later, the enthusiasm to pitch a tent with Anthony died, thereby prompting her to announce that she would be leaving his house that evening.

She said: “When I informed him about the sudden change in feeling, he suggested we go to a club and buy shawarma. But I refused, insisting that I wanted to go home.

“After much persuasion from him to spend the night with him, I agreed. I put on one of his pairs of shorts and a shirt and went to the kitchen to prepare dinner for us.

“When he finished eating, he told me to caress him. I obliged but later opted out when he demanded sex. I told him I was no longer comfortable.

“My rejection provoked him. He told me to dress up and leave his house. By then it was 10 p.m. I refused to leave and stood up to challenge him. A verbal war ensued.

“He slapped me. I reacted and a fight ensued. He locked the door, picked up a walking cane and threatened to beat me with it.

“In my confused state, I dialed my boyfriend’s number (Ibanga) and tried to explain to him what was happening and begged him to come for my help. But he hung up and never called back.

“Anthony held me as I tried to open the door. I screamed for help, but no one heard me let alone to rescue me. During the fight, he dropped the walking cane. I reached out for it and noticed that it had a detachable holding head.

“I quickly detached the head and saw that a dagger was attached to it. As he charged at me, I stabbed him with the dagger,” she said.

Botched escape

Saturday Vanguard gathered that her attempt to escape from the scene and abandon the bleeding man was resisted, as Anthony held her hair with all his might.

As she made to step out of the apartment and at the same time struggling to release his grip from her head, the owner of the building and his family members were alerted. They were said to have raised the alarm that jostled other occupants from sleep.

While efforts were being made to rush the dying man to the hospital, some tenants overheard the suspect making calls. They seized her phone and locked her up in the victim’s apartment, until the arrival of a team of policemen at about 1 a.m. of December 23, 2023.

The suspect was taken into custody where news of the death of Igbodike’s death reached her.

Saturday Vanguard also gathered that while in police custody, some family members of the deceased visited her to know how their breadwinner died.

The widow of the deceased was also said to have visited the State CID for an explanation of how her husband died.

Commissioner of Police, Rivers State Police Command, CP Olatunji Disu, who reacted to the incident, called for caution and restraint in every relationship.

He said, “This serves as a reminder that violence is never the answer and can lead to devastating consequences for all parties involved. The investigation into this case is ongoing.” (Saturday Vanguard: Text, Excluding Headline)

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