The Kaduna State Police Command has arrested a man identified as Manaseh Bitrus Jatau in connection with the alleged murder of his 35-year-old girlfriend, Rebecca Ojoniko Jeremiah, following a violent dispute over a phone call.

The command’s Public Relations Officer, DSP Mansur Hassan, confirmed the incident in an official statement on Friday. According to the police, Jeremiah’s lifeless body was discovered on September 5 along Mai Angwa Street in the Romi area of Chikun Local Government Area, with cotton wool stuffed inside her nostrils. 

Detectives from the Romi Outstation initially rushed the victim to St. Gerald Hospital in Kakuri, where a medical doctor officially pronounced her dead. Her remains have since been deposited at the hospital`s mortuary pending an autopsy.

A preliminary investigation by the police revealed that Jatau was the last person to contact the deceased, having invited her to meet him at a local spot known as Ebano Joint in Romi. Tracking teams later closed in on the suspect at his workplace, Tomato Jos Company, located in the Maraban Jos area of Kaduna, where he was taken into custody.

During police interrogation, Jatau reportedly confessed to the crime. He admitted that an altercation broke out in his room after the deceased confronted him over a phone call he received from another woman. The suspect told investigators that the physical fight resulted in her death, after which he dumped her body in a nearby open field in an attempt to cover up the crime.

The Kaduna State Police Command stated that the suspect remains in custody as deeper investigations continue. He will be arraigned in court immediately after the investigation is concluded.