The police said they have arrested the second suspect allegedly linked to the killing of an eight-year-old girl, Chikamso Victory in Eliozu, Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Rivers State.
The state Commissioner of Police, Zaki Mohammed Ahmed confirmed this in a telephone interview on Channels Television breakfast show, ‘Sunrise Daily”, monitored in Port Harcourt, last Thursday.
It would be recalled that the principal suspect, one Ifeanyichukwu Maxwell Dike, had escaped from police custody in the evening hours of penultimate Sunday, barely 24hours, after he was arrested for allegedly raping and killing the minor.
“Well, the latest is I’m delighted to inform you that the second suspect, who the principal suspect alleged asked him to get those human parts has been arrested this morning (Thursday),” Ahmed said.
The police commissioner said that the principal suspect, who is currently at large, had mentioned the second suspect as his accomplice when he confessed to committing the crime.
He said, “There are two of them. The principal suspect when he was arrested, he confessed to committing the crime, and he mentioned that someone asked him to get some parts of a human being for them to make money. So, that person has been arrested this morning.”
Ahmed said  the second suspect was involved in the crime, saying Ifeanyi provided the information which led to his arrest while he was being interrogated.
“I strongly suspect that this person we have arrested is involved in the crime. The boy (Maxwell Ifeanyi) gave his name and his number and he mentioned that this is the person who asked him to get these human parts that they are going to make money,” he said.
The police commissioner also expressed optimism that the principal suspect would soon be re-arrested, and urged the public to provide the command with useful information.
Ifeanyi, an undergraduate of the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT), had reportedly cut off the vital parts of the eight-year-old girl before he was apprehended by security operatives penultimate Saturday.
The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, DSP Nnamdi Omoni, had said that the principal suspect was on his way to dispose of the remains of the girl when he was arrested.
Omoni, who paraded the principal suspect penultimate Saturday, before he escaped, warned parents to monitor the movements of their children and be wary of those they allow to have access to them.
The father of the girl, who was part of the search and rescue team since his daughter disappeared, had identified the principal suspect as his cousin.
The murder of the girl and Ifeanyi’s escape from police custody had prompted various reactions in the state and across the country as various groups are seeking for justice to be meted out on the perpetrators.
While the Rivers State Deputy Governor, Dr Ipalibo Harry Banigo described his escape as embarrassing, some youth in Eliozu area of Port Harcourt asked the police to produce him.
The Tide reports that the police high command has already placed N1million reward for any person with useful information that may lead to the re-arrest of the principal suspect.
Similarly, the defeated governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress in the state, Dr Dakuku Peterside pledged N500,000 reward for any one with useful information that would aid the police in re-arresting the principal suspect, and ensuring that he and his accomplices are brought to justice.

Susan Serekara-Nwikhana