konknaijagirl | On 15, Mar 2013

The Imo State Police Command has declared one Chika Nwabrije, a soldier, wanted in connection with the murder of a hotel proprietor, Mr. Emeka Aseme, last month.

The Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr. Musa Katsina, made the announcement at a news conference in Owerri on Thursday.

He said that Nwabrije, a soldier with the Nigerian Army, was alleged to be the leader of the gang that murdered two policemen and kidnapped Aseme, the Director of Naija Plaza Hotel, Oguta on Feb. 24.

The hotel director, he said, was later murdered.

Katsina said the suspect, who allegedly, supplied military uniforms and arms to the arrested suspects, was also wanted for assassination, armed robbery and rape.

He said that the suspects came from Rivers on Feb. 21 to Oguta, where they were housed by one Ifeoma Ukachukwu, a native of Oguta.

The police commissioner said that Ukachukwu, a suspected drug dealer, was believed to have provided information on the victim.

He said that Ukachukwu also housed the suspects from Feb. 21 to Feb. 24 when they finally committed the crime.

The commissioner said that the suspects disguised as military men, shot and abducted Aseme on Feb. 24 and later buried him in a shallow grave after he died from gunshot injuries.

Katsina said that one of the suspects, Ndidi Okorie, was arrested a few hours after the incident through “the combined efforts of the Special Ambush Squad, the Command Intelligence Unit and the expanded strategic partners in Rivers State”.

He said the information provided by Okorie led to the arrest of the other suspects.

NAN recalls that two policemen and one Emeka Aseme were murdered by kidnappers as they tried to kidnap Aseme in Oguta on Feb. 24.

The commissioner called on the public to come forward with information on the whereabouts of Nwabrije.