{"id":126052,"date":"2026-03-07T08:05:42","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T07:05:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=126052"},"modified":"2026-03-07T08:05:42","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T07:05:42","slug":"abducted-ebonyi-monarch-found-dead-as-police-nab-nine-suspects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/abducted-ebonyi-monarch-found-dead-as-police-nab-nine-suspects\/","title":{"rendered":"Abducted Ebonyi Monarch Found Dead As Police Nab Nine Suspects"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">By Oscar Okhifo<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">The traditional ruler of Ndufu-Alike autonomous community in Ebonyi State,\u00a0 Francis Igwe, who was abducted by gunmen last Sunday, has been killed by his captors.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">The deceased traditional ruler was the father of Barrister Kelechi Igwe, the immediate past Deputy Governor of Ebonyi State.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00a0Operatives of the Nigeria Police Force\u00a0 recovered his body on Friday.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">The monarch was kidnapped by gunmen while on his way to church last Sunday.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">In a statement released on Friday, the Ebonyi State Police Command confirmed that nine suspects had been arrested in connection with the crime, with the Police Public Relations Officer, SP Joshua Ukandu, adding that the arrests followed the deployment of technical and intelligence assets by operatives.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cThrough the deployment of technical and intelligence assets, operatives arrested two suspects identified as members of the kidnapping syndicate,\u201d the statement said.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Ukandu added that during interrogation, the suspects confessed that the monarch had been killed on March 2, 2026, and volunteered to lead operatives to their hideout and assist in the recovery of his remains.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cHowever, upon approaching the hideout, other members of the gang opened fire on the operatives. The operatives responded with superior firepower, which overwhelmed the gang,\u201d he said.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">He explained that during the gun battle, one of the suspected kidnappers was neutralized while others managed to escape from the scene.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Ukandu added that police operatives later arrested seven additional suspects linked to the crime and recovered a locally made pistol from them.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cThe remains of the late traditional ruler were recovered and deposited at the morgue for autopsy,\u201d he said, adding that the suspects are currently in police custody while efforts are ongoing to track down other members of the gang who fled.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">The police spokesman noted that the suspects would be charged to court upon the conclusion of investigations.<\/div>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Oscar Okhifo The traditional ruler of Ndufu-Alike autonomous community in Ebonyi State,\u00a0 Francis Igwe, who was abducted by gunmen last Sunday, has been killed by his captors. The deceased&hellip;<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":125959,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-126052","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Abducted Ebonyi Monarch Found Dead As Police Nab Nine Suspects - Pointblank News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/abducted-ebonyi-monarch-found-dead-as-police-nab-nine-suspects\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Abducted Ebonyi Monarch Found Dead As Police Nab Nine Suspects - Pointblank News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Oscar Okhifo The traditional ruler of Ndufu-Alike autonomous community in Ebonyi State,\u00a0 Francis Igwe, who was abducted by gunmen last Sunday, has been killed by his captors. 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