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A tricycle rider identified simply as IK is on the run after allegedly beating his female lover, a mother of two, to death and abandoning her body alongside their children in Ogbogoro, Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State.
The tragic incident was discovered on Tuesday morning along the CPM Street area of Ogbogoro, leaving residents in shock.
According to eyewitness accounts, residents were alerted to a disturbing scene at about 7:00 a.m. when a stationary tricycle was found parked by the roadside with the lifeless body of a woman and two young children inside.
A resident, Mr. Senibo, said officers from the Ozuoba Police Division had already arrived at the scene when he got there. He revealed that the older child, believed to be about five years old, told police that her father had violently assaulted her mother with an object while they were staying at a guest house on Monday night.
The child reportedly narrated that after the attack, her mother became too weak to stand or speak. The suspect allegedly drove her to a hospital, where she was confirmed dead, before abandoning her body and the children inside the tricycle and fleeing.
Confirming the incident, the spokesperson of the Rivers State Police Command, ASP Agabe Blessing Kaborlo, said police responded after receiving information from a passerby who noticed the woman and children inside the tricycle.
She stated that officers found the lifeless body of the woman alongside two children aged about five years and six months.
"The five-year-old child informed officers that her father assaulted her mother during the night, leaving her critically injured. When he realized her condition had worsened, he reportedly took her to a hospital where she was pronounced dead," the police spokesperson said.
ASP Agabe disclosed that the deceased was later identified by her sister, while her remains have been deposited in a mortuary for preservation and further investigation.
The two children have since been handed over to the deceased's sister, while police have launched a manhunt for the suspect.
Authorities have assured residents that efforts are ongoing to apprehend the fleeing tricycle rider and bring him to justice.
