The 39-year old notorious Port Harcourt serial killer, Gracious David
West, has confessed to have killed seven women in Rivers, Lagos and Imo
States.
West, who hails from Buguma in Asari-Toru Local Government Area of
Rivers State, confessed that he killed five women in Port Harcourt, one
in Ikeja and another in Owerri and survived on the money he stole from
the victims’ ATM cards.
He made the confession on Friday, while being paraded by Mustapha
Dandaura, Commissioner of Police, Rivers State Police at the police’s
headquarters.
On the motive behind his actions, he said: “I don’t know what comes over
me to kill. After I have killed, I feel remorse and cry for killing,
but after that, the irresistible urge to kill comes over me again. I
kill alone.”
About belonging to a cult group, he said “I was a member of the Degbam
Cult group, I have since repented. I am not killing for any cult group. I
just kill. I don’t know what comes over me to kill.”
Speaking about how he has been surviving, he said, “The first woman I
killed in one of the hotels in Ikeja had about N85,000 in her account.
Before I strangled them after love making, I use the knife to cut the
hotel bedding into a semblance of a twine which I used to bind their
hands and feet, and also use the knife to threaten them.
“The kitchen knife was sold to me by an Aboki. I threaten that if they
raised the alarm, I will kill them with the knife. Out fear, they kept
quiet while I raised the volume of the television set in the hotel room
to prevent any noise from my room. I never killed with the knife.”
West also revealed that before he killed his female victims, he insisted on knowing their account balance and ATM pins.
“After strangulating them, I steal their ATM cards, empty their accounts
from any nearby ATM machine and move on. It is not all the girls I
slept with that I kill. I only kill whenever the irresistible urge to
kill overwhelms me. l don’t have a house. My mother died through
poisoning from her mate and I am homeless. I sleep in hotels.”
He also revealed that the phones he stole from his victims were sold to a
customer in Waterlines Junction, off Port Harcourt/Aba Expressway and
another buyer around MTN office by Oil Mill Market in Port Harcourt.
West also confirmed that he was one of the ex-militants rehabilitated by
the Omega Power Ministry, OPM, that secured a job for him a the Federal
University of Science and Technology, FUTO, Owerri, through the Church
but bolted with students’ properties.
The suspect, who at a point broke down in tears told Journalists that he
tried to seek spiritual deliverance from Christ Chosen Church, which
was in Salvation Ministries, but to no avail because he could not secure
accommodation to follow through.
