Justice Olabisi Akinlade of the Lagos High Court, Igbosere has found Okwumo Nwabufo, 39 and Olisaeloka Ezike, 28, guilty of the 2012 murder of Cynthia Osukogu, who Nwabufo befriended on Facebook.
They court found them guilty of chaining, drugging and strangling the deceased to death at Cosmilla Hotel, FESTAC Town, Lagos, on July 22, 2012.
Judgment is ongoing.
Justice Olabisi Akinlade of the Lagos High Court, Igbosere, Thursday foreclosed the right of second defendant, Ezike Olisaeloka, to file his final written address in the ongoing trial of four men accused of murdering Cynthia Osokogu.
Olisaeloka failed to file his final written address since last June 16, thus stalling the case, despite being granted several adjournments for this purpose by Justice Akinlade.
Osokogu, a 25-year-old student of Nasarawa State University resident in Abuja, was killed on July 22, 2012 at Cosmilla Hotel, Lakeview Estate, Festac Town, Lagos, allegedly by her Facebook lover.
Okwumo Nwabufo, 33; Olisaeloka, 23; Orji Osita, 33, and Ezike Nonso, 25 are the first to fourth defendants in the case.
They are standing trial on a six-count charge bordering on conspiracy, murder, stealing, reckless negligence and possession of stolen goods.
According to the prosecution, the offences contravene and are punishable under Sections 221, 249, 285 and 327 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.
At the resumed hearing of the matter yesterday, Olisaeloka once again refused to file his address, following which Justice Akinlade granted prosecution counsel Mrs Bola Akinshete’s application to file her reply to the written addresses of the other defendants.
The judge said: “I am not going to wait indefinitely for the second defendant’s counsel to file his final written address. It is on record that the court has given the second defendant several opportunities for him to file his written address since June 16. Up till now he has been unable to file.
“It is obvious that the counsel is not ready to file his final written address. I hereby foreclose the right of the second defendant to file his final written address and order the prosecution to file her reply on the final written addresses.”
She adjourned till December 8, for adoption of the final written addresses.
Cynthia Osokogu’s trial has suffered several adjournments due to the delay tactics of the defence counsel.
At the last adjourned date on June 8, 2016, Justice Akinlade warned the second defendant that the court could award substantial costs against him over his failure to file.
Irked by the seeming delay tactics employed by defence counsel in the ongoing trial of alleged murderers of Cynthia Osokogu, Justice Olabisi Akinlade of a Lagos High Court, Ikeja, has threatened to return the fourth defendant, Nonso Ezike, to prison.
Justice Akinlade who frowned at the unavailability of Ezike’s lawyer, C.J. Ajakona, in court during Tuesday’s proceedings, noted that the lawyers were deliberately frustrating the trial.
She vowed to revoke Ezike’s bail at the next adjournment if his lawyer fail to file his “no case submission” application before her.
Ezike, a brother to the second defendant, Olisaeloka Ezike, is being tried for selling the late Osokogu’s BlackBerry Phone.
Justice Akinlade said: “I tell you at the next adjourned date if nothing is filed, I will revoke your bail and send you back to prison. Then your lawyer will know what to do.
“It is because you have been on bail that is why your lawyer is wasting the time of the court. It is a deliberate act.
“The court is already on vacation but I left the comfort of my home, thinking that the case will go on today, only for my time to be wasted.”
According to Ezike, he was informed his counsel had a fatal accident when he called his telephone on Monday.
The fourth defendant also told the court that he has a feeling his lawyer was not serious with the matter, recalling how the counsel told him he had forgotten about the matter when he called him before the last adjournment.
He notified the court of his intention to appoint Chris Obiaka, counsel to the third defendant, Osita Orji (Pharmacist) to take over his representation.
Adjourning the case to October 26 for adoption of “no case submission” of the third and fourth defendants, Justice Akinlade held that Ezike’s lawyer must file and serve his application for ruling by the next date.
Osokogu, 25, was drugged, assaulted and murdered on July 22, 2012 at Cosmilla Hotel in Lake View Estate, Amuwo Odofin, Lagos.
The primary suspects in her murder – Okwumo Nwabuifo (34) and Olisaeloka Ezike (25) were said to have picked her from the airport on her arrival from Abuja, after meeting on Facebook.
Miss Vivian Amuneke, a receptionist at Cosmilla Hotel, Festac Town, Lagos, where Cynthia Osokogu was murdered, on Friday confessed that she lied to the police after the corpse was discovered.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Amuneke made the confession while testifying before a Lagos High Court in Ikeja at the resumed trial of four men allegedly involved in the murder.
The defendants; Okwumo Nwabufo (33), Olisaeloka Ezike (23), Orji Osita (33) and Ezike Nonso (25) were arraigned before Justice Olabisi Akinlade on February 8.
They were charged by the Lagos State Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) on six counts bordering on conspiracy, murder, stealing, reckless negligence and possession of stolen goods.
The prosecution alleged that 25-year-old Osokogu was murdered at the hotel on July 22 last year by Nwabufo and Ezike, whom she had met through a social networking site, Facebook.
Osita, the third defendant, was charged for negligently selling the Rohypnol Flunitrazepan tablets which was allegedly used to drug the deceased.
Nonso, the man who allegedly bought Osokogu’s stolen Blackberry Bold 5, was charged for being in possession of a stolen phone.
However, testifying on Friday, Amuneke told the court that she booked Room 1C, where Osokogu was killed to Nwabufo and Ezike, with a “used” receipt.
The 28-year-old witness who was led in evidence by Lagos State Attorney General, Mr. Ade Ipaye, said she lied twice in her statements to the police in order to conceal her fraudulent act.
She explained that the room was earlier booked by a couple who had checked-out early but she resold it to the defendants instead of declaring it vacant to the hotel management.
Amuneke said:”The money paid by the second defendant (Ezike) who gave his name to me as John, was shared by me and the porter, Oscar.
“Since the room has already been paid for by the couple who left, I issued a used receipt to the second defendant.”
“I later lied to the police that I gave them the room because Nwabufo had told me that he was related to the couple that had checked-out.
“I told them this because I was scared but the truth is that I resold the room and failed to remit the money to the hotel’s account.”
She further told the court that Nwabufo later went upstairs to the room accompanied by a female guest, who was tall and slim, at about 10 pm.
“I did not really see her face because she was busy pinging with her phone but I know that she was tall and slim”, the witness said.
Amuneke said she was relieved the next morning by her colleague, Mrs. Ifeanyinwa Njegbu and she went home.
Four persons suspected to have killed Cynthia Osokogu were on Tuesday arraigned before a Lagos High Court, Ikeja.
They are Okwumo Nwabufo, Ezike Olisaeloka, Orji Osita and Ezike Nonso.
The suspects were arraigned before Justice Olabisi Akinlade on a six- count charge of murder, stealing and possession of stolen property.
However, their trial could not proceed as planned as counsels to the defendants in the matter told the court that they were not properly served with the court processes.
Olu Kayode, the counsel to the second and fourth defendants, also told the court that the statements of his clients were not included in the amended charge.
The prosecution team led by the Lagos State Attorney General, Mr. Ade Ipaye, admitted to the mix up in serving the processes to one of the defence counsel but promised to immediately resolve the issue.
The presiding judge, Justice Olabisi Akinlade subsequently adjourned the matter to February 8 for commencement of trial.
The matter came up earlier in January but was similarly adjourned because one of the defendants, Osita was not in court
Presenting its case before the court, the state alleged that two of the suspects, Okwumo and Ezike on or about July 22, 2012 at Cosmilla Hotel, Amuwo-Odofin, Festac Town, conspired to murder Cynthia.
The state alleged that the suspects murdered Cynthia by administering Rohypnol Flunitrazepan tablet into her drink, chained her hands and legs and strangled her to death.
The duo were also alleged to have stolen three blackberry phones valued at N150,000, Jewelries, an international passport and a drivers licence belonging to the victim after they strangled her to death.