Police in Ondo state have apprehended a suspect, Mima Chinecherem, for allegedly raping and killing an 80-year-old woman at a farm in the Otu area of Ondo town.

The woman, simply identified as Felicia Aderibigbe, was earlier declared missing by her family after she went to the farm and did not return.

All efforts by the search party set up by the family to locate her yielded no result until her body was found on the farm in a manner suggesting she was raped to death.

An investigation by the detectives led to the arrest of the suspect, Mr Chinecherem, who also works on the same farm as the deceased.

Police spokesperson, Funmilayo Odunlami-Omisanya, who confirmed the incident while parading 17 other suspected criminals in the state on Tuesday in Akure, said the mobile phone of the old woman was found in possession of Mr Chinecherem, hence his arrest.

“Chinecherem, 27 years old, who specialises in Banga cutting at night on the farm, pegged a palm frond in front of the house of the woman (deceased) and this arose the suspicion of her children.

“The suspect was immediately searched and the mobile phone of the old woman was recovered from him,” she said.

In a related development, a Togolese national, Gbegele Mustapha, was also nabbed by the police for allegedly killing his 58-year-old landlady, Adijat Olaoye, in Akure, the Ondo state capital.

Mr Mustapha, 29, allegedly killed Mrs Olaloye, during a rape attempt, inside her room located in the Fanibi Area of the capital city.

The accused, who is also a labourer at a farm settlement, was alleged to have broken into the one-room apartment of the woman and struggled repeatedly to sleep with her.

The helpless woman was said to have slipped, hit her head on the floor and died while struggling to escape from being raped.

The suspect bolted the room immediately the woman was lifeless and sensing danger.

Neighbours who heard the shout of the woman were said to have rushed down into her room, found her in a pool of blood and reported it to the police.

The suspect, during interrogation with detectives, claimed he was under the influence of Indian Hemp he took on the day of the incident.

Peoples Gazette reports that others arrested by the police include armed robbers, suspected cultists, burglars, and suspects in possession of firearms.

Speaking on the arrest of the suspects, Mrs Odunlami-Omisanya said they would be prosecuted in line with the laws.

The police imagemaker itemised the stolen properties recovered from them to include electronics, motorcycles, mattresses, pieces of jewellery, gas cylinders, fetish items, male and female wares and shoes among others.

She, however, advised members of the public to always work with the police to rid of crimes, stressing that security is a joint business.