MEN of the Benue State Police Command are investigating a suspected suicide and murder after a Makurdi man in his 40s doused himself and his girlfriend in petrol and set both their bodies ablaze after the young lady rejected his proposal to marry her.
Nicodemus Nomyange, who lives in the Benue State capital, had asked his girlfriend, Shininenge Pam to marry him over the weekend but she rejected the offer. On Saturday evening, Mr Nomyange then visited his girlfriend’s house on Inikpi Street, in the high brow area of Makurdi, with a gallon of fuel, which he used to set the apartment on fire.
Both lovers died in the inferno and the police are now checking the premises for clues. Ms Pam’s neighbour, who identified herself as Dorry, said: “Nomyange was married with children but he proposed to the young lady, whom he claimed to have invested in.
“However, the lady, having sought advice from her friends, told him that he was too old for her and that she preferred to marry a younger man and not a man already with wife and children. It was the man who rented this apartment for her and furnished it to taste.
“Nobody expected what happened because the man did not show any sign of anger but on Saturday around 6.30pm, we saw him with a keg of fuel which we thought was to be used for their generator. As he entered the lady’s house, they locked themselves in.”
She added that residents suddenly noticed fire coming out of the apartment, pointing out that efforts to put out the fire were not successful. Police spokeswoman Catherine Anene, said witnesses told them that they saw the man with fuel and they assumed that he wanted to use it for the generator.
