Mr. Nkeruewen Etuk, a 54-year-old murder suspect, has admitted that he beat his fiancée to death a few days earlier because she accidentally burned his food (rice) and nearly put their apartment on fire.
The suspect revealed this on Friday while being paraded by the Cross River State Police Command with 18 other people, including two PHCN employees and an ex-convict.
In an interview with Vanguard, Etuk said that he didn’t plan to kill his lover, Miss Esther Ndereke, but did so out of rage.
She failed to boil the rice properly, which became a big source of friction between the two of us. She also neglected to add enough water before turning on the gas while cooking, which nearly caused a house fire.
I never intended to murder her, and over the two years that we have been dating, I have never had a real argument with her until I asked her why she acted in that manner.
It was never my intention to kill her; I was only enraged because she was irresponsible and nearly set someone’s home on fire, Etuk claimed. “Unfortunately, our altercation escalated, leading to her tragic demise after she slumped during the fight,” Etuk said.
The state’s chief of police, CP Gyogon Grimah, thanked the media for their ongoing support during a news conference on Friday.
He urged the citizens of the state of Cross River to speak out against crime and not keep quiet.
CP Gyogon Grimah continued by saying that 19 suspects had been detained during the time period under consideration for a variety of offences, including kidnapping, murder, vandalism, and armed robbery, among others.
He claims that 12 suspects were taken into custody for armed robbery, attempted murder, and cultism; two others were taken into custody for damaging a PHEDC power line; and five other suspects were taken into custody for burglary and cultism.
We have decided to take the fight against criminality to all the hidden corners of the state, he said. I want to make it very apparent that any enlightened community cannot find solutions through violence, lawlessness, or self-help; instead, it is more advantageous to seek legal remedy when resolving conflicts.
Let’s work together with the police and other security organizations to combat these criminal elements who are determined to disturb the peace or generate panic, CP Grimah pleaded. “Let’s always adopt the whistle blowing policy and speak out,” he urged.