Deborah Akinyosoye
Godwin Mngumi, the prime suspect in the murder of a retired Chief Judge of Delta State, Justice Ifeoma Okogwu, has confessed to killing the deceased in the process of dispossessing her of her phones and other valuables.
The suspect, who was paraded in a video posted by the spokesperson of the Delta State Police Command, Bright Edafe, on X on Tuesday, narrated how he recruited two other persons to rob the deceased of items, including a wristwatch, jewellery and a power bank.
While responding to questions from Edafe, the 25-year-old said he had just been employed as a security guard at the residence of the deceased when the incident occurred.
He said he had worked in the house for less than two weeks before the crime.
“We did not plan to kill her; we only planned to take her phone. When we went there, we tied her hands and her legs. We took her phone, wristwatch, necklace and power bank,” Mngumi confessed.
He added that the retired judge had two phones, explaining that his accomplice, 21-year-old Nnaji Obalum, kept the bigger one, a Samsung handset, while the smaller phone was sold for an undisclosed amount.
Obalum, who was also paraded by the police, admitted to being arrested in possession of the Samsung phone.
He said, “The Samsung phone was found with me. I put my SIM inside.”
Both suspects expressed regret over the incident and appealed for forgiveness.
Edafe, in the video, disclosed that the third suspect involved in the crime was still at large.
He urged residents of the state to properly scrutinise prospective domestic staff and security personnel before granting them access to their homes.
It was reported that the retired judge was found dead late Sunday, November 23, at her home located behind The Pointer Newspapers in Asaba.
Findings showed that her killers bound her legs and hands and ransacked the entire house in what appeared to be a violent, targeted attack.
Operatives of the Homicide Section of the State Criminal Investigation Department on December 6 arrested Mngumi, who was said to have disappeared from the house shortly after the incident. He was arrested in Anambra, where he fled to.