Police arrest Nigerian suspected of killing German woman in Ahaus

The police have arrested a Nigerian man on the suspicion of having murdered a young German woman in the town of Ahaus, state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

The 27-year-old asylum seeker was arrested on Tuesday (14 February) in Basel, the prosecutor’s office in Münster has announced.

The woman, aged 22, was stabbed in the streets of Ahaus in the early hours of Saturday and died from her injuries later in the hospital.

A spokesman for the prosecutor’s office in Münster said witnesses had heard cries for help and saw a person who had bent over the woman lying on the ground.

“The extensive investigations of the murder commission” singled out the Nigerian as a prime suspect, said the prosecutors. “There is a suspicion that the 27-year-old has been in contact with the young woman in recent weeks. The evidence suggests that the accused could be responsible for the killing of the young woman.”

A Europe-wide arrest warrant was therefore issued by the police which led to the arrest of the Nigerian in the Swiss city yesterday.

The Swiss police arrested the man during a routine control at the main train station in Basel. He was said to have shown his German pass for asylum-seekers when he was asked to identify himself.

It is still unclear how the Nigerian travelled to Basel.

The motive for the crime is unclear as well.

According to preliminary investigations, the two were known to each other, said the spokesman of the prosecution, Martin Botzenhardt.

The woman had been working for a long time at Caritas’ refugee aid in Ahaus. And the suspect had been living in an asylum accommodation in the town.

Police are investigating the kind of relationship that existed between the two.

The Münster prosecutor’s office has applied for the suspect’s extradition from Switzerland. He will be questioned by the homicide squad after his arrival in Germany.

Felix Dappah