Nwankwo, according to sources, left his home on Saturday for his office but was found dead in his office yesterday.
The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Imo State, Orlando Ikeokwu, who confirmed the incident to newsmen yesterday, said the body of the deceased had been taken to a morgue.
According to him, the command has commenced an investigation into the gruesome murder of the lawyer, who had been practising for about 30 years.
Secretary to Owerri NBA, Chinedu Agu, posted on social media yesterday: “About 8.15 a.m. today, on my way to church, I received a call from the chairman of the Bar, Jude Ogamba, detailing me to liaise with the former secretary of the Bar, Ishmael Nkwocha, to take the police to N.H. Nwankwo & Co. at 43 School Road, Owerri, to ascertain the safety of N.H Nwankwo, who left home for work yesterday, Saturday, February 6, 2021, and was yet to return.
“However, earlier, Mr. Nkwocha, who shares same office space with him had, in response to frantic calls from his family members over the uncertainty of his whereabouts, gone to his office to meet same locked.”
On opening the entrance door, Nkwocha reportedly met Nwankwo’s main office locked and with traces of blood on the door to the office.
Not very sure of the situation, he went to the Homicide Section of the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID).
“When forensic experts arrived at 9.56 a.m. with their gadgets, they opened the door, only for us to find his bulky frame lying lifeless inside his office in a pool of his congealed blood.
“On a closer inspection, Nwankwo appeared to have been savagely stabbed with a knife by his assailant, as a very gaping cut was seen on his neck, with less than 50 per cent of the flesh in his neck region holding the head,” the lawyer stated.
Blood splashes were seen on the roof, fans and office equipment, suggesting ferocious cuts on his neck, he added.
A machete was reportedly abandoned inside the toilet of his office. Footprints captured by forensic experts suggested that two persons were involved in the act, as the two footprints were not identical.
Meanwhile, his driver, who reportedly was the only person with him in the office on Saturday, was at large at press time, with the deceased’s phone and car.
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