On Friday, December 13, police officers from the 3-3 Divisional Headquarters arrested 40-year-old Alfred Bassey, a native of Abi in Cross River State, in connection with the tragic death of his seven-year-old child at a construction site along Trans-Nkisi Layout in Onitsha.

Confirming the arrest to newsmen, the command’s spokesperson, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, said preliminary investigation by the police revealed that the father of the victim forcibly took the minor from the mother and had been living with him in an uncompleted building at Trans-Nkisi Layout Onitsha.

‘’Furthermore, on 11th December 2024, the lifeless body of the child was found in a soakaway pit dug in the abandoned uncompleted building after the suspect left the child for an unknown destination.

“The body of the child was later recovered and taken to the hospital before he was confirmed dead by a doctor.”

Ikenga said the state Commissioner of Police CP Nnaghe Obono Itam who is saddened by this development, has admonished parents to prioritize the well-being of their children against any difference they may have had with their spouse to avoid exposing them to emotional and psychological trauma and/or de@th.

He further directed the immediate transfer of the Case to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Awka, for a more detailed investigation.