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Kaduna State Police arrested Manaseh Bitrus Jatau over the killing of his 35-year-old girlfriend, Rebecca Ojonike Jeremiah, following what investigators say was a dispute over a phone call from another woman.
Jeremiah’s body was found along Mai Angwa Street, Romi, Kaduna, at about 7 a.m. on Saturday, September 5, 2026, according to a statement issued Friday by the command’s Public Relations Officer, Mansir Hassan.
Hassan said the discovery was first reported by the Officer-in-Charge of the Romi Outstation, prompting detectives to visit the scene immediately. “The lifeless body of the deceased was sighted along Mai Angwa Street, Romi, with cotton wool stuffed in her nose,” he said. Detectives rushed Jeremiah to St Gerald Hospital in Kakuri, Kaduna, where a doctor pronounced her dead. Her remains have since been deposited at the hospital mortuary for autopsy.
Preliminary investigation identified Jatau as the last person to have contacted Jeremiah, having invited her to meet him at Ebano Joint in Romi, according to Hassan. Detectives traced and arrested him at his workplace, Tomato Jos Company in the Maraban Jos area of Kaduna.
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During interrogation, Jatau allegedly confessed to fighting with Jeremiah in his room over a phone call from another woman, a confrontation that resulted in her death, Hassan said. He further confessed to dumping her body in an open field near his residence in an attempt to conceal the crime, according to the statement.
Jatau remains in police custody as detectives continue investigating the circumstances surrounding Jeremiah’s death. Hassan said he will be charged to court once the investigation concludes.
Kaduna State Commissioner of Police Rabiu Muhammad condemned all acts of violence in a statement accompanying the case update, urging members of the public to embrace peaceful resolution of disputes rather than resorting to violence. Muhammad assured residents of the command’s commitment to ensuring justice for victims and bringing perpetrators to account, and called on the public to cooperate with security agencies by providing information that could help prevent further violence and criminal activity in the state.
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The case adds to a pattern of intimate partner violence cases handled by Nigerian state police commands in recent years, in which disputes between partners have escalated to fatal outcomes, prompting periodic public appeals from police leadership for nonviolent conflict resolution. Nigerian criminal law classifies killings arising from such disputes under the Penal Code or Criminal Code depending on the state, with prosecution typically proceeding on a murder or culpable homicide charge once investigations conclude and the case is formally filed in court.
The statement did not disclose whether Jatau and Jeremiah had a prior history of domestic conflict known to family, friends, or authorities, nor did it specify how long the two had been in a relationship. No information was given on Jeremiah’s family or next of kin, and the police statement did not indicate a timeline for when the autopsy results would be available or when formal charges would be filed.
