The boyfriend and girlfriend were being paraded naked by members of the community as they carried the corpses of the victims they were accused of killing in a wheelbarrow around the area. A large crowd was seen following and flogging the suspects.

In a trending video circulating on social media, a voice narrated that the suspects allegedly killed three persons with the intention of using them for money rituals, before they were caught by the villagers.

But reacting to the development on Thursday, the Anambra State police spokesman, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, said the incident was not connected to ritual killing but a case of murder.

Ikenga said the suspects, who were humiliated and paraded as shown in the video by the angry mob, were erroneously accused of the killing because they were seen at the scene where the murder took place.

He added that security operatives, acting upon information, quickly stormed the area and rescued the man and woman while the deceased were deposited in a morgue.

He said the Commissioner of Police, CP Echeng Echeng, while reacting to the incident sued for calm and ordered the immediate transfer of the case to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Awka for a comprehensive investigation.