Tragedy struck in Benin City as a 21-year-old woman, Osato Festus Edogiaweria, was murdered and buried in a shallow grave by a man she had reportedly visited, the Edo State Police Command revealed.
Osato was declared missing after she left home on April 20, 2025, in the company of a friend and never returned.
Her family reported the case to the Aduwawa Police Division five days later. What began as a missing person’s case soon turned into a murder investigation.
Police said the suspect, 31-year-old Joshua Osaigbovo, was arrested on June 18 by operatives from the Family Unit of the State Criminal Investigations Department, following what authorities described as “painstaking investigation and technical intelligence.”
Edo police spokesperson, SP Moses Yamu, confirmed the chilling details in a statement issued in Benin on Saturday.
“During interrogation, the suspect confessed to having invited the said Osato Festus (now deceased) to his residence on 27th April 2025, and in the course of their stay, had an altercation that led to a fight where the deceased fell, hit her head on the ground, and died,” he stated.
The suspect reportedly admitted to placing Osato’s lifeless body in a wheelbarrow and transporting it to a nearby bush, where he dug a shallow grave and buried her.
“He further confessed that he took the dead body of the lady in a wheelbarrow to a bush nearby, dug and buried her in a shallow grave a few meters away from his residence,” the statement said.
On June 20, Osaigbovo led police operatives to the scene, where the decomposed remains of the young woman were exhumed.
Yamu also confirmed that the deceased’s phone was recovered from the suspect and assured the public that he would be charged to court upon the conclusion of investigations.