Deceased Andrew Amechi Ochekwo, a businessman in Aba, Abia State, linked with the disappearance of Celine Ndudim and Afiba Tandoh, two ladies who went missing on April 27, 2024, is wanted in the United Kingdom (UK) for sexual assault.
Ochekwo is said to have been shot dead when he wanted to escape en route Abuja for more investigations after his arrest in Aba.
FIJ found that the UK police had declared Ochekwo, also known as Andrew Ucheckwo, and David Okorocha, wanted in March 2023. He was wanted in connection with the sexual assault of a woman in Milton Keynes in June 2019.
According to a series of social media posts by Harrison Gwamnishu, a human rights activist, the Abia State police arrested Ochekwo following the disappearance of the two ladies.
FIJ learned that Celine, a Nigerian, and Afiba, a Ghanaian, had travelled from Port Harcourt, Rivers State, after Ochekwo, whom they met on Facebook, invited them to his home. As revealed in videos shared by Harrison, the man had invited multiple other ladies.
In a video recording where Ochekwo invited Celine and her friend to his home, he was heard saying, “Hi, Celine, how are you? How are you doing? How was your journey? You have to bring your friend. I live in Aba now. I’m in Aba. I’ve got a new office here. I live in this great, big mansion. Got six bedrooms, so let’s talk before… Not this weekend. We’ll come next weekend, okay?
‘‘I will send you some money. Just get a taxi, or Uber or Bolt. It’ll cost you about maybe N50,000 just to come here. Come spend a few nights with your friend. We’ll have a bit of fun. We’ll sort of go out and have some food. Okay? Yeah, I live in a beautiful, beautiful house now, absolutely beautiful. It’s even better than my other place. Okay. Alright, girl. You take care. Bye.”
Andrew Amechi Ochekwo
Harrison, who has been providing updates on this matter, stated that Ochekwo’s case was transferred to Umuahia after his arrest in Aba. The police were then petitioned to move him to Abuja because, according to the activist, he was living large even while in custody. However, he was reportedly shot dead while the police were transporting him to Abuja from Abia State.
Disclosing that the suspect was killed while trying to escape, the activist wrote on his Instagram page last Friday, “They showed me his dead body and the car too. They snapped it.”
A video update from Harrison on Monday shows that police officers, found a decomposing body dumped close to Ochekwo’s home in the Ogbor-Hill area of Aba. The body was wrapped in a curtain, which bore some similarities to the curtain in Ochekwo’s house, where he invited the yet-to-be-found ladies to.
Harrison, however, revealed that they were yet to ascertain if the body belonged to either of the missing friends or someone else. FIJ reached out to him on Tuesday via WhatsApp for further inquiries on the matter, but he did not respond.
When FIJ called Maureen Chioma Chinaka, the Abia State police public relations officer, on Tuesday, she said, “The suspect that you people are talking about, that matter has been transferred to force headquarters. The matter is no longer in Abia State. We made an arrest on May 8. We investigated, and on the 21st, we handed over to the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) [in Abuja].”
FIJ subsequently called Muyiwa Adejobi, the spokesperson for the police force headquarters, but his calls were unanswered. Messages were equally sent to him via SMS and WhatsApp, but no response had been received at publication time.
