"My killings started in Lagos" - Alleged Port-Harcourt Serial~killer Confessed

A suspected serial killer, Gracious David-West, 26, arrested by the Police, has admitted killing at least seven women in hotels in Lagos State, Owerri in Imo State and Port Harcourt in Rivers State.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the suspect was arrested on Thursday, following CCTV footage which showed him leaving an unnamed hotel in Port Harcourt, after he had allegedly killed the lady he slept with the previous night.

David-West confessed to killing the seven women to newsmen on Friday after his arrest by the Rivers Police Command.

“So far, I’ve killed five girls in Port Harcourt; one in Owerri, and another in Lagos. I started the killing in Lagos.

“I took N52,000 from the bank account of the first girl I killed in Lagos. Thereafter, I went to Port Harcourt, then to Owerri and later returned to Port Harcourt.

“After I killed a girl, I collected her phone, and sold the phone at Waterlines and MTN office (areas in Port Harcourt).

“I met the last girl at a club in Port Harcourt,” David-West told reporters.

“The 26-year old killer from Buguma LGA of Rivers State, who is also a member of the Degbam cult group was arrested along East-West Road en route to Uyo from Port Harcourt. He has since made useful statements to the Police,” Police stated.

The suspect said he usually picked his victims from clubs and drinking bars.

“I take a girl into the hotel, we eat, make love and sleep. Later, I wake up in the middle of the night and put a kitchen knife on her neck, ordering her not to shout.

“I threaten her that if she shouts, I will kill her. I promise her that if she cooperates, I will not kill her. So, the girl, out of fear, will not shout.

“After the girl relaxes, then, I will tear the bed’s pillowcase and tie her hands and legs, so that she will not struggle. Thereafter, I strangle her,” he confessed.


David-West said before strangulating his victims, they usually pleaded for their lives by offering him money as well as details of their bank accounts.

He said after obtaining the victim’s ATM card and PIN and other belongings, he still killed them.

“So, I collect their ATM PIN, and after dawn, I go to ATM to withdraw money from the account. I usually use the money to get other girls.

“I don’t know what is making me to kill people. Immediately the urge comes, I kill, and after killing, I regret and feel sober. But later, I will still go and kill again,” he said.

Rivers Commissioner of Police, Mr. Mustapha Dandaura, said David-West was arrested by policemen on routine stop-and-search duty along the Ogoni stretch of the East-West Road.

According to him, the suspect was arrested inside a commercial bus that was traveling to Uyo from Port Harcourt.

“The suspect is definitely not alone in these killings. So far, three suspects are in our custody and are being investigated in connection with these killings,” the Police chief said.

NAN reports that five deaths in Port Harcourt sparked outrage, with protests erupting across the city by women activists fearing a rise in killings targeting suspected sex workers.

Police investigating the murders immediately launched a manhunt for the suspect and later arrested him while he attempted to flee Port Harcourt to neighboring Uyo, capital of Akwa Ibom State.