RismadarVoice Reporters, June 9, 2026
A patent medicine dealer identified only as Ofofon is in custody after security operatives arrested him in connection with the alleged killing of a young woman in the Afokang area of Calabar South Local Government Area, Cross River State.
The arrest came recently, when local vigilante members reportedly caught the suspect attempting to scrub away bloodstains believed to be connected to the crime an act neighbours say gave him away.
According to residents, the incident is thought to have unfolded around midnight on Tuesday June 2, in the suspect’s apartment. By daybreak, visible traces of blood in a drainage channel outside the building had drawn large crowds of onlookers to the scene.
Eyewitnesses said the deceased had arrived at the premises with two companions another young woman and a young man. They allege the male companion managed to flee during the attack and subsequently raised the alarm that brought vigilante members to the area.
One resident, Mr Umoren David, gave a chilling account of how the arrest unfolded. He alleged that the suspect had initially left the scene possibly to dispose of parts of the victim’s remains before returning around 2 a.m., at which point vigilante members intercepted him while he was attempting to clean up evidence at the property.
The arrest has unearthed a wave of suppressed anxiety among those living nearby. Several residents said they had long harboured unease about the suspect, citing recurring sounds of screaming from his apartment during nighttime hours. One neighbour, Ms Mmakamba, said the suspect had on multiple occasions tried to persuade her and other young women in the area to visit him invitations she said she was now grateful she had always declined.
Tension ran high throughout Wednesday morning as hundreds of residents and curious passers-by converged near the suspect’s medicine shop. The crowd was eventually addressed by Mr Steve Umo, who identified himself as a local security adviser, alongside officers from the Mbukpa Police Division. Umo confirmed that Ofofon and other individuals believed to have links to the case had been taken into custody, and assured the community that investigators were working diligently to establish the full facts.
The Cross River State Police Command’s spokesperson, ASP Eitokpah Sunday Akata, acknowledged the development and indicated that a formal statement would be released in due course.
