Police are on the manhunt for a man who repeatedly stabbed his girlfriend to death after a fiasco in the Festac Town area of Lagos state.
The Lagos State Police Command says it has contacted the International Police over a runaway murder suspect, identified only as Sunday, who allegedly stabbed his 21-year-old girlfriend, Cecilia Joseph, to death in the FESTAC Town area of the state, Punch reports.
According to the report, the incident happened on Friday, Christmas Day, in the lovers’ rented apartment on Waterside Street in the Lakeview Estate, Phase 2, in the Amuwo Odofin Local Government Area of the state. The two lovers had a fight during which Sunday allegedly grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed Cecilia in the neck and in the stomach. Neighbours, who learnt of the attack after Sunday had fled the house, were said to have reported the matter at the FESTAC Police Division.
It was learnt that the policemen came to the house and took Cecilia to the Isolo General Hospital, where she was confirmed dead. The bloodstained knife used by the suspect had also been recovered by the police and will be used as evidence against the suspect. A resident, who declined to give her name, said the duo had been living in the apartment without being married for some months before the incident happened.
She said, “There was a quarrel between them on the Christmas Day. I heard that it was the woman who first went to take the knife and attacked the man.
“The man then took the knife from her and stabbed her in the neck. It was her screams that alerted the neighbours. I think she had died before the police arrived. The man ran away before anyone took notice.”
The case was transferred to the Homicide Section of the State Department of Criminal Investigation, Yaba, where investigation is ongoing. A police source said the suspect ran out of the country to the Benin Republic.
“The suspect is believed to have sustained knife injuries. He killed the lady in anger. He has escaped out of the country. The knife is with us and we also took photographs of the scene of the crime,” he added.
The Police Public Relations Officer, who confirmed the incident, said the Interpol section would be given the suspect’s details to aid their investigations.
He said, “We will look for the suspect and we will get him. The police have no jurisdictional problem even if the suspect has fled to the Benin Republic. Our Interpol section has been contacted.
“The details of the matter will be given to the Interpol, and we will arrest him where he is. Meanwhile, the corpse was taken to the Isolo General Hospital and deposited in a morgue there for an autopsy. Investigation is ongoing.”