Josephine Cynthia Onche, a 45-year-old officer of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps, disappeared just days before she was due to get married in December 2019.
Her wedding had been scheduled for December 29, but Josephine never made it to the ceremony. Her family reported her missing after they lost contact with her during the final days of preparations for the marriage.
For months, relatives searched for answers, but the case remained unresolved.
A major breakthrough eventually came after information from a commercial motorcyclist helped investigators trace people believed to have knowledge of Josephine’s disappearance. The investigation led to the arrest of her fiancé, Christopher Akpan, and later a native doctor, Rafiu Afolabi, who had reportedly left Benue State after the incident.
Police investigators said Josephine’s remains were eventually discovered in May 2021 in a shallow grave in a forest at Adum, in Obi Local Government Area of Benue State, about 18 months after she disappeared.
Investigators examined two possible motives behind the killing.
One involved money. Police sources alleged that Akpan had collected about N14 million from Josephine and did not want to repay it. The native doctor also reportedly told investigators that Akpan had offered him N5 million to help kill a woman to whom he owed a large amount of money.
A second allegation involved ritual practices.
According to statements attributed to Afolabi during the investigation, Josephine was taken to a forest under the impression that spiritual rites or prayers connected with her marriage were to be performed. Afolabi alleged that Akpan then killed her and that her blood was collected as part of a supposed money ritual.
Akpan, however, denied killing Josephine and maintained that he was innocent, accusing the native doctor of trying to implicate him.
On May 27, 2021, investigators were led to the forest where Josephine’s decomposed remains were recovered from a shallow grave.
Her disappearance, which had left her family searching for answers for nearly a year and a half, had finally been resolved in the most painful way.
Josephine’s remains were later returned to her family, and she was laid to rest in Otukpo on June 1, 2021, allowing her loved ones to finally give her a proper burial.
