Father of seven-year-old found dead in Anambra uncompleted building arrested

File copy: Man in handcuffs

The Anambra State Police Command has arrested one Alfred Bassey, 40, over the sudden death of his seven-year-old son at a construction site along the Trans-Nkisi Layout, in the Onitsha part of the state.

A statement on Friday by the command’s spokesman, Tochukwu Ikenga, said police operatives attached to the 3-3 Divisional Headquarters arrested the suspect the same day at about 9.30 am.

Ikenga said the boy’s lifeless body was found in a soakaway pit dug in the abandoned uncompleted building on December 11, 2024, after the suspect had left the child for an unknown destination.

He said, “Police operatives attached to the 3-3 Divisional Headquarters on Friday, December 13, by 9.30 am, arrested one Alfred Bassey (m), aged 40 years, and native of Abi in Cross River State.

“The arrest was in connection with an ongoing investigation of a reported case of the sudden death of a seven-year-old child at a construction site along Trans-Nkisi Layout, Onitsha.

“Preliminary investigation revealed that the father of the victim forcibly took the minor from the mother and has been living with him in an uncompleted building at Trans-Nkisi Layout Onitsha.

“Furthermore, on December 11, 2024, the lifeless body of the child was found in a soakaway pit dug in the abandoned uncompleted building after the suspect left the child for an unknown destination. The body of the child was later recovered and taken to the hospital before he was confirmed dead by a doctor.”

He added that the state Commissioner of Police, Nnaghe Itam, saddened by this development, admonished parents to prioritise their children’s well-being against any differences with their spouses, to avoid exposing them (the children) to emotional and psychological trauma and/or death.

“The CP further directed the immediate transfer of the case to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Awka, for a more detailed investigation,” the statement concluded.