She stabbed him multiple times with the dagger in a walking cane he had brought out to use on her for denying him another round of intimacy.
The above and many more were details provided to operatives of the Rivers State Police Command by a 26-year-old murder suspect, Serah Nwankpo, alleged to have killed her married lover, Anthony Igbodike on December 23.
The suspect, a mother of two and secondary school leaver, who’s currently detained at the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) in Rivers, told detectives that she acted in self-defense as Igbodike had locked his door to prevent her leaving and brought out the walking cane to use it on her.
Trouble started for the woman on December 22 after she received a phone call from Igbodike, who she claimed had been wooing and sending her cash gifts, and agreed for them to meet.
According to the suspect, she relocated to Port Harcourt City from Enugu last August where she began a new relationship after jettisoning the one which made her a single mother of two kids.
She was in a relationship with one Ibanga who she allegedly cheated on with Igbodike and had called him for help when things went awry during her visit to her married lover’s house but he refused to get involved.
According to the suspect, she first met Igbodike in 2017 in Enugu and while in Port Harcourt, he kept calling her, extending invitations to her to his residence. She said he told her he was separated from his wife and wants to start all over with her.
She told detectives she kept making excuses to turn down the invitation because she wanted to be faithful to Ibanga but Igbodike was persistent and kept sending her money at different times and so she eventually gave in to his demands and they agreed to meet around 10am, at Kilimanjaro by Choba junction.
Anthony paid the tricycle rider N500 and their day together began.
Amankpo accompanied him as he arranged to pay his staff salaries for the month of December. One of his staff, Hope, spent some time with the duo as Anthony made transactions in the bank.
He took Sarah shopping for groceries and home supplies after he had finished the transactions and sent Hope on her way.
Afterwards, they went to his apartment at Mercy-land extension, Obiri-Ikwerre, an apartment in a compound he shares with his landlord. As they settled in, he asked her to prepare a meal for him.
He accompanied her to his kitchen, showed her how to operate the appliances there, and sat back to let her finish off the cooking. It was just past noon at this time. After a few minutes, he left the house to buy more home supplies- garri, fufu and a soup pack.
When she was done, Igbodike helped himself to the meal of eba and soup she had prepared as she claimed she was not hungry. After the meal, he went in to have a bath and thereafter, they had intimate moments and even made video recordings of their escapades for keeps.
Nwankpo said she became hungry after the romps and decided to fix a meal for herself, narrating that Igbodike was with her even while she ate as they had friendly discussions.
“He enquired about her love life, and she detailed her ongoing relationship with Joe Ibanga. He laughed at the idea of her dealing with the challenges of raising children and struggling with a relationship that was not financially rewarding.
“He offered to wrench her free from pecuniary hardship if she would let go of her relationship and marry him. He also sought to know if she was involved with other men besides her boyfriend. She said she was not.
“He continued his pitch even as she went to have a bath. He explained his business to her and even presented her with job opportunities in his establishment, saying he was willing to make her a manager at his firm.
“She agreed to visit him again after about a week so that they could begin plans for her life with him. Based on the discussions, he had arranged for her to start working with him in January 2024,” the police said.
But the excitement was short-lived as Nwankpo, who had earlier agreed to spend the night changed her mind after he sent her to buy a call card for him.
“She mentioned the sudden change in feeling to him, but he was not perturbed. To lighten her up, he suggested that they go into town to a club and buy shawarma, but she turned that down, saying she was not in the mood and needed to return home.
“After more attempts at convincing her to stay, she agreed to spend the night. She put on one of his shorts and a shirt at his behest as she prepared dinner for them. It was about 10pm at this time. “When he had finished eating and their discussions had whittled away, he beckoned on her to come to him. As she did, he asked that she should caress him; she obliged but later opted out when he demanded intercourse, as she said she was no longer comfortable.
“Her rejection greatly provoked him, and he asked her to dress up and leave his house. She refused to leave and stood up to challenge him. A verbal war ensued, and he slapped her. She attacked him, and they began tussling and tugging at each other. As the scuffle subsided, he locked the door, picked up a walking cane and threatened to beat her with it. “In that window, she dialled her boyfriend’s number, and when he picked up, she tried to explain the events to him and asked him for help. He hung up and did not call back.
“She then tried to open the door, but Igbodike held her back, and they began another scrimmage. She said she screamed for help, but no one heard her, let alone rescued her.
“In the fighting, he dropped the walking cane, and she reached for it and noticed that it had a detachable holding head. She quickly detached the head and saw that a dagger was attached to it. As he made his way to her, she swung at him with the dagger, stabbing him severally, including a blow to the neck that eventually proved fatal. As he bled out, he weakened.
“She opened the door and tried to escape, but he grabbed her hair and maintained his grip even as she struggled to free herself. At this point, they had gotten out of his apartment, and the ruckus had alerted his landlord and his family.
“The landlord alerted other neighbours, and they lifted Anthony into his own vehicle and took him to the hospital. As they were making plans to leave, they noticed Sarah frantically making a call, she was calling her boyfriend again to tell him the mess she had gotten herself into. It was about midnight at this time.
The neighbours seized her phone and locked her up in Anthony’s apartment as they left for the hospital. Some of them returned after a short while and asked her if she was not paid for her services for her to resort to stabbing her host. As she tried to explain, she was beaten up and locked up again. She spent her time in the room cleaning up the pools of blood in the apartment,” she told the police, who arrived at the scene around 1am that day.
She said it was while she was in custody that she was informed that Igbodike had died.
She also got a visit from four of his family members, who wanted to know exactly what had happened. His wife also visited the police to listen to the cause of her husband’s untimely death.
Reacting to the tragic incident, the Commissioner of Police, Olatunji Disu, advised individuals to exercise caution in their relationships and to seek peaceful conflict resolutions.
“It 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,” he said.
