A 24-year-old lady, Joy Onoh, has been murdered in cold blood by suspected hoodlums in Makurdi, the Benue State capital.

The graduate of Mass Communication from the Benue State University was said to be awaiting call-up for the National Youth Service Corps when she was allegedly raped and killed at the North Bank area of Makurdi on Tuesday.

The victim was said to have received a call from someone to come to a particular place at North Bank, a suburb of Makurdi, to supply clothes.

Her friend, Patience Onuche, who spoke to UGAMATV on Thursday, said Joy was an online vendor who posted her goods on social media.

She said, “Joy was an online vendor; she would post and you would order; it’s either you picked it or you gave her a location and she delivered it there. On Tuesday, someone ordered a turtleneck sweater from her and she wanted to deliver it. But the sweater was with me because I gave it to someone before, but it did not fit the person so I collected it back.

“She came to collect the turtleneck from me in the church around 5.20pm on Tuesday and told me that she was going to North Bank to deliver it. Around 8pm, her fiancé called to ask if she was with me and I said no. I called her mum immediately, and she was crying on the phone. So, I wore my clothes and went to their house which is close to mine.

“When I got to their house, I tried calling her with her sister’s number, but her number was busy. Around 10pm, her line called her sister’s phone, which was with me and I picked the call.

“She sounded tired and I asked where she was; she said I should send her UBA account details and I asked why she would ask me to send her account details. She said I should just send it that she would explain to me later. I asked her where she was, but the call dropped and her phone was off till the picture of her dead body was sent to me on WhatsApp.

“The people around the Federal Housing area at North Bank, where her body was found, said she was left there naked. We discovered that she was raped before she was killed.”

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The deceased’s mother, Mrs Grace Onoh, a widow with three children, informed journalists that Joy, who was her first child, told her that she was going to supply clothes to some people.

Mrs Onoh, who said she lost her husband about 12 years ago, said her daughter struggled to send herself to the university through the little business.

She said, “I reported the matter to the police that night, but they asked me to come back the next day. The next day, they told me to wait till after 24 hours, only to hear by 5pm that her body was found at the Federal Low Cost in North Bank.”

The state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Catherine Anene, who confirmed the incident, said a case of a missing person was reported to the police and a search was conducted.

Anene said on October 20, 2021, her corpse was discovered around 7am in the bush.