The Nation Newspaper

Tag: murdered

  • Corps member raped, murdered two weeks to wedding

    Thirteen days to her wedding and 29th birthday, a corps member, Miss Omolola Abogunrin, has been murdered by unknown criminals.

    She was murdered in a sultry afternoon in the compound of an agriculture research institute located in Apata area of Ibadan, the Oyo State capital on Sunday.

    The late Miss Abogunrin was said to have been raped and strangled beside a stream within the expansive premises of the National Cereal Research Institute, Moor Plantation, Ibadan at about 1:30 pm.

    Police are still on the trail of the murderers.

    The deceased was looking forward to her wedding which was scheduled for October 17, the day she would have been 29 years old.

    A close source disclosed that the couple-to-be held their family introduction four months ago, paving the way for proper marriage ceremony.

    The wedding was to hold at a Christ Apostolic Church in Ibadan where both lovers live.

    It was learnt that sympathizers confirmed rape and strangulation through the semen found on her private part and nail wounds around her neck respectively on discovering her corpse.

    Residents said the deceased was returning from church when she was waylaid by the unknown criminals in a bush path within the institute’s farmland. She was said to be on her way to her lover’s house to spend some time with a plan to return home afterwards.

    Her lover, Olusola Babalola, has since been arrested and detained by the police.

    Omolola graduated from the Polytechnic, Ibadan.

    She was completing her one year compulsory national service in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State, as at the time of her death.

    Confirming the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in Oyo State, Adekunle Ajisebutu, said Omolola’s corpse has since been deposited at the morgue of state hospital, Adeoyo.

    He explained that her lover, Mr. Babalola, was arrested and detained as part of police investigation on the broad-day murder.

    Ajisebutu also disclosed that the case has since been transferred to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the command, stressing that the command would do everything to bring Omolola’s killers to book.

  • Who murdered these men?

    Who murdered these men?

    Police in Enugu are working hard to unravel the whereabouts of gunmen who shot and killed three youngmen from the same family three weeks ago, on a disputed piece of land in Amechi Awkunanaw, a bustling suburban town, south of the coal city.

    The victims were identified as Nnaemeka Agbo (Alias Echidime), Sunday Nnamani, and Nnamani Ikpa.  The disputed land lies directly opposite government-owned Millennium Estate under construction, along the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway, some five minutes drive away from the Enugu State capital.

    Since the killings on May Day, tension and uneasy calm enveloped Amechi Awkunanaw, home town of notable political celebrities including former governor, Jim Nwobodo and former Senate President, Ken Nnamani: “It has been a big challenge to restrain agitated youths from any form of reprisal action”, an elder told reporters.

    According to an informed source, the three youngmen who were killed on the day in question, had been part of a delegation of about 15, sent by a faction of those laying claim to ownership of the land, to undertake an on-the-spot inspection of the swath of hilly land, and report back to the larger family.

    Curiously, the two factions locked in the bloody dispute are from the same kindred-the Umuaniebos of Isiagu, Amechi Uwani.

    Traditional Ruler of the town, Igwe Joseph Aniebonam Ogbodo, had to cut short his over-seas trip to rush home to behold a restless kingdom.

    “We have no doubt that the police can do the job; let them fish out the culprits and bring them to book, if they (police) have difficulty, they should get the headship of the affected family (Umunengene) to assist them”.

    According to knowledgeable insiders, the three families of the Umuaniebo kindred namely, Umunwakum, Umunogo and Umunengene, originally jointly owned the disputed land and several other swats of land in various parts of what now constitutes the Enugu Capital territory area, especially Achara and Independence Layouts and Awkunanaw areas.

    The source said the Umunengenes suddenly turned round to claim exclusive ownership of the piece of land on which the fatal shootings, took place on May Day.

    The contest now pitted them (Umunengene) against the two other families – Umunwakums, and Umunogos. All the disputants came from the same progenitor, and are referred to as the Umuaniebos.

    Community leader, Chief Oliver Okonkwo Agbo, (alias One Day) said events leading up to the killings of his first cousins, were triggered when “certain elements on the other side began to clear the vast land in dispute, using caterpillars and bulldozers.  They claimed they wanted to build an exclusive estate and may even have collected money from people as we learnt.”

    “We reported the development to our son and Mayor of Enugu South Local Government Area, Hon. Victor Agbo, whom we gathered promptly briefed the police authorities, upon which a steer-clear order was issued to all parties”, Chief Agbo recalled.

    He added that, on the day the three people were shot and killed, the deceased were part of a larger team mandated by his own group (Umunwakum and Umunogo) to visit the site and report back on compliance or otherwise, with the police directive.

    “Three healthy youngmen were killed instantly as gunshots rang out from all directions; so many more escaped with varying degrees of bullet wounds, while others were butchered with machetes and axes”, he recounted.

    It was not clear if the survivors identified any or some of the attackers.

    Chief Agbo urged the police to do the “needful, identify and arrest those who engaged in this genocide.”

    “It is insensitive, the height of recklessness and impunity for people (brothers) to pick up arms against unarmed opponents (brothers) in a civil contest”, he asserted.

    “We do not want to take the laws into our own hands and then begin to decimate ourselves further; let the police help us by identifying and arresting specific culprits involved and then holding them to account.”

    Police spokesman in Enugu, Ebere Amaraizu confirmed that no fewer than six persons were already in their net in connection with the murder.

    According to Amaraizu, the police have made some inroads in the case but true the confessions of those arrested, saying that those arrested were culpable but the actual persons who pulled the triggers were still being hunted.

  • Why we murdered our Indian boss –Suspects

    Why we murdered our Indian boss –Suspects

    A murder suspect accused of hacking his company’s operations manager to death has said that he was only watching while his accomplice attacked the victim with a dagger.

    Twenty-seven-year-old Usman Mohammadu told the police that he was standing at the door post when his accomplice, also identified as Mohammadu, stabbed the late Mr. Srivastava Kumar, an Indian national, in the neck and stomach.

    He said the Indian man was attacked because the company failed to pay salaries as and when due.

    Two other suspects who allegedly accompanied Usman to commit the crime were identified as Adamu Umaru (35) and one Mohammed whose surname could not be ascertained. The two were still at large at press time.

    The police said the suspects were being charged with murder, armed robbery and conspiracy, as they were also said to have made away with some money belonging to the victim.

    According to the police, on February 11, 2015, Usman and Mohammed went to Adamu, their supervisor who had secured security jobs for both of them in Trans African Farms and Foods Limited, a company based in Ajah, Lagos and owned by the Indian national, to complain that the company where they were employed since January 2015 had not paid them salaries after 40 days. They said they were finding things difficult while their employers were living in luxury.

    Adamu allegedly advised them (Usman and Mohammed) to forget about their chief security officer (CSO) and go straight to the Operations Manager (the Indian national) and get their money even if it would mean taking his life for being heartless and treating as slaves the security men saddled with the responsibility of protecting the lives of the Indian directors and their properties.

    At about 3.30 am the following day, Usman and Mohammed went to the company and broke the door to where the late Kumar was sleeping. Before he could ask them what they were doing in his office, Mohammed asked where the man had kept their salary.

    As the Indian made to respond, Mohammed saw his suit case and suspected that it would contain money. Before Kumar knew it, Mohammed brought out a dagger and started stabbing him.

    Mohammed then took Kumar’s suitcase containing local and foreign currencies and told Usman that they should escape fast.

    When Mohammed opened the suit case, he brought out bundles of money and gave some to Usman. He told him to find his way while he would go to Adamu to give him his own share before travelling to the north.

    Fortunately, the deceased man had managed to call his brother on the phone and told him what had happened before he gave up the ghost. The brother asked another of their brothers who was closer to the place to go to the house. There he saw his brother in a pool of blood. He rushed him to a general hospital at Akodo area.

    The hospital, seeing how critical Kumar’s condition was, referred him to Saint Nicholas Specialist Hospital on Lagos Island. Unfortunately he died three days later.

    The case was reported at Akodo Police Station. When the police could not find Usman and Muhammed, they went after their guarantors, Adamu and Ali. The latter had told the police that Usman is from the same village with him. He was released after the police had gone to Kebbi and arrest Usman.

    Usman thereafter made a confessional statement, saying that it was himself and Mohammed, who was still at large, that carried out the assassination of Kumar. But he said it was Adamu who advised them to go and confront the Indian, attack and rob him if that would solve their problem.

    Upon his arrest, however, Adamu denied knowledge of the murder and robbery attack allegedly carried out by Usman and Mohammed.

    The two suspects have since been detained in the cells of Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Lagos State Police Command, while the officer in charge of SARS, SP Abba Kyari, has spread his dragnet towards capturing Mohammed.

    Confessing to the crime, Usman said: “I went there with one Mohammed who is now at large. It was Adamu who advised us to go and rob the Indian. I am a security man. I came to Lagos in 2014 to look for money because almost all my brothers who came to Lagos to work came back richer and healthier.

    “My monthly salary is N17,000. I had worked for one month and 10 days yet the man refused to pay me. Was he not wicked? Does he want me to die? Where does he expect me to get money to eat?

    “I was with Adamu on February 11 when Mohammed came and met us. We told him that the CSO had not agreed to pay us our salary. Adamu advised us to go and meet him and do anything we could to get our money, even if it meant robbing him.

    “At about 4.30 am, Mohammed and I went to meet the white man in his office, where he normally slept. The door was locked from inside. We broke the door and the burglary proof.

    “Mohammed asked me to stay at the door and watch out for intruders as he went inside to confront the man. After some time I started hearing a cry from inside as if somebody was dying, and I became worried. Later, I saw Mohammed coming out with bloodstains all over his face and clothes. He went to a well in the compound and started washing out the bloodstains, including the ones on the knife he used in killing him.

    “I also saw him with the man’s suitecase. I asked him what he had done and he said I should not worry, because he had done the right thing. He then opened the bag and gave me N10,000 from a bundle he brought out and told me to find my way before policemen would start looking for us.

    “He said he was going to see Adamu and settle him and leave immediately. He did not tell me the amount he found in the suitcase. He is a difficult, greedy person. Adamu knows that I am telling the truth.

    “Tell Adamu to stop lying. He was the one who told us to go and confront the man. Why is he lying now? Even Mohammed forgot his knife in that compound. The company is situated at Ilekan Junction, Ajah, a suburb of Lagos. Tell Adamu to stop lying. He is an old man.”

    Adamu said: “I was a farmer in my state, Bornu. But in Lagos, I became a security guard. The CSO told me that their company needed two more security men and I helped to bring these two troublemakers. I stood surety for one of them while one Ali stood surety for Usman.

    “I was surprised because I had thought that the attackers were armed robbers and had probably taken the two guards (Usman and Mohammed) hostage. I was surprised when the robbers turned out to be Usman and Mohammed themselves.

    “I even went there after the operation. I was the one that opened the gate for them to drive the wounded manager to the hospital. God knows that Usman is lying against me. He wants somebody who will follow him to suffer the punishment for a crime he and Mohammed committed.

    The Command’s spokesman, DSP Ken Nwosu, said the fleeing suspect, Mohammed, would be arrested no matter where he was hiding.

  • SHARKS V DOLPHINS FALLOUT: Referee murdered football, says Ogunbote

    SHARKS V DOLPHINS FALLOUT: Referee murdered football, says Ogunbote

    Sharks head coach Gbenga Ogunbote has blasted the officials after seeing his team held to a 0-0 draw by Dolphins in their Premier League derby at the Sharks Stadium on Saturday.

    He blamed the centre referee for making a terrible decision in disallowing his side a crucial goal in the first half of the encounter.

    Ajani Ibrahim had spectacularly volleyed past Sunday Rotimi from Frederick Obomate’s cross in the 14th minute, but Sharks celebrations were cut short when the referee ruled out the goal for offside.

    Ogunbote insisted the referee’s howler denied his side victory.

    “It’s an unfortunate game and for the first time I’m going to talk about officiating,” Ogunbote told supersport.com.

    “I have never complained, but this referee is a disgrace. He has dented the reputation of Nigerian referees.

    “This happened before the cameras for God’s sake. The game was being watched all over the world.

    “I demand an explanation as to what was wrong with that goal.”

    He added: “Must we be crucifying officiating in the country?

    “We’re talking of developing the game and we still find this sort of a thing even before the camera.

    “What kind of goal can be more beautiful than that goal?

    “His job is a hobby while this (coaching) is my profession. He cannot come here and kill my joy. It’s unfair.”

    Ogunbote said he expects the referee to be sanctioned by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) for his actions.

    “Look at what he has done; he has just killed the game. And he is happy and going home.

    “I want to see what the Association (NFF) will do to him. I think that referee should not watch football any longer.

    “He has murdered football. I’m saying it with anger, and with bitterness in my heart,” he fumed.

    Sharks have moved to second place in the Glo Premier League with eight points, while Dolphins occupy the eighth position on five points.

  • Agony of a widow whose husband was ‘murdered’ by police

    Agony of a widow whose husband was ‘murdered’ by police

    •Takes refuge with her eight children at uncompleted building

    Her world was turned upside the day her husband, Ndubuisi Obisike, was allegedly murdered by a team of police officers on patrol along Igbo-Etche junction in Rivers State.

    Mrs. Nkechi Obisike, the widow of the deceased, now lives a helpless life. She and her eight children now sleep in an uncompleted building.

    Efforts to ensure that those who killed her husband were brought to book have yielded no fruit. Speaking with Niger Delta Report, she said her condition would not stop her from fighting the officers who killed her husband.

    She said: “I want those arrested before now in connection with the death of my husband to face the law and to compensate me for killing an innocent man. I will continue to tell people that my husband is innocent; this is a man who cannot hurt a fly. He was murdered at Igo-Etche in Etche Local Government Area of Rivers State while returning from work last year. When I petitioned the Inspector-General of Police, those officers suspected were arrested but were later released without any reason behind it. That is why after one year of my husband’s death, I have decided to approach the human right lawyers for advice and my interest is to go to court. Look at me today, I am living in an uncompleted building with my children and somebody is somewhere saying I should forget about the death, I can’t bear it.

    “Some of these officers have been posted out of Rivers State; police did well by identifying them to us but all we are saying is that police should tell us the reason behind the delay for their prosecution.”

    Narrating the genesis of how the late husband was murdered, Mrs. Obisike said an eyewitness told her that: “A white colour Toyota Hummer Hiace, with registration number RV192A01 was conveying some men of the Nigerian Police under the Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) division at about 5 am to 6am when they saw her husband at the Igbo Etche/Eleme junction. The officers alighted from their vehicle and confronted my husband who was loading the vehicle of his friend having closed from work. The policemen engaged him with argument of obstruction of traffic from where he parked his car. It was through that argument that one of the officers stabbed him on the abdomen. He was left alone in a pool of blood when the officers zoomed off. Efforts were made to ensure the arrest of the above officers but the issue is that they have failed to produce who among them stabbed my husband; that is the reason I am heading to court.”

    A human right lawyer, Higher King said: “Investigation revealed that the said Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) Official bus stopped at Igbo Etche Eleme Junction and a certain police man came down and stabbed the deceased to death. This, according to the report, was also confirmed by the police authority through their investigation. But the question that remains unanswered till date is that who is this mysterious police officer that stabbed the deceased and could not be identified by police till date? This is the crux of the matter,” he noted.

    When contacted, the Rivers State Police Public Relation Officer (PPRO), DSP Ahmad Mohammad, said the incident took place when he was not the PPRO of Rivers State police Command and it would be unprofessional for him to comment on a matter. He added that: “If she wants to go to court, there is nothing wrong to seek a redress over her matter. I will make further inquiry on the matter; that is all I have to say for now.”

  • Woman, 46, murdered in Igede-Ekiti

    A 46-year-old mother of two, Mrs. Eunice Titilayo Ogundele, has been raped and murdered by unknown persons in Igede-Ekiti, Ekiti State.

    It was learnt that the deceased was on her way to church on Friday morning when the incident occurred.

    The widower, Mr. Michael Ogundele, said they both left home a little after five o’clock, adding that his late wife had no misunderstanding with anyone.

    Ogundele, who was in tears, said: “This morning (Friday), we both went out a little after 5am. I was going to work while she was going for a church service. When we got to Igede-Ado road, we went our separate ways. I did not know I was seeing her for the last time. A few minutes to 6am, they called me to come somewhere in the town. I went there and met my wife dead, with two deep wounds on her head.”

    A man, who lives close to the scene, Baba Abass Owoso, said: “My children were preparing for school, when I heard people shouting ‘won tipa o, won tipa o (they have killed her o)’. When I came out, I met people surrounding her body. I saw that she was hit on the head at two places with a heavy object and blood was all over the ground.

    “A Bible, a torch light, a small purse and a pestle, which I suspected was used to kill her, were on the floor. I noticed that she might have been raped, as her pant was beside her leg.”

    The deceased’s son, Ayodeji, said: “I live in Ado-Ekiti. Someone phoned me to come to Igede around 6am. I was told she left our house on Aaye Street in Igede for the Holiness Evangelical Church in Ilamoye, which is a few meters away. She did not reach the church before she was killed.”

    Police spokesman Victor Olu-Babayemi, who confirmed the incident, said two suspects had been arrested.

    Babayemi said: “Two suspects are in our custody in respect of the rape and murder of a woman in Igede-Ekiti. They are being interrogated to determine their involvement in the crime. After our investigations, we will reveal their identities to the public.

    “About two weeks ago on the same axis, precisely Erio-Ekiti, a man raped and murdered a teenager on a cocoa plantation. We urge the public to help the police halt this trend.”

    In 2011, a pastor’s wife was raped and murdered on her husband’s farm in the town. The culprits have yet to be apprehended. The incident was protested by youths, who threatened to burn the palace of the town’s monarch, Oba Joseph Aladesuru.

    There have been about five similar cases in the town.

     

  • Bank auditor murdered at dawn

    Last Thursday, 40-year-old Ayokunle Oluwagbemiga Ojo, an auditor with the Bank of Industry (BOI), Marina, Lagos, dressed himself in blue suit and shirt to match. He was ready for his usual daily trip to his office.

    After the day’s work, he had on his schedule, an official trip to Badagry and a training in Ghana at the week end.

    At 5.50 am, he stepped out of his Galilee Avenue, Eliot, Iju Ishaga home, leaving his wife, Omolara to prepare their three sons for school. He had promised to call and furnish his wife with information regarding the Badagry trip. Sadly, all that never happened.

    “That was the last I heard of him. I was still taking care of the children when I heard gunshots, at exactly 6.02 am. I didn’t imagine my husband would be affected because he left just ten minutes earlier. Later, I heard knocks on our door,” Omolara recounted yesterday, sobbing.

    The visitors came with terrifying news that sent her off-balance: Her husband had been shot by some unknown assailants – about 30 meters from their home!

    Eyewitnesses, it was learnt, later recounted what led to Ayokunle’s shooting to his elder sister, Deaconess Nike Olajusi.

    According to them, when he stepped out of his house, some unidentified men in black coat accosted him. The men reportedly demanded his laptop and he replied that he left it in his office the previous night. Then, they asked for his bag, and the Ikere-Ekiti-born Ayokunle wondered why they needed his bag.

    “Then, the men, I was told, threatened to kill him. They encircled him. They were said to have shouted a name – ‘Mopol’ – and a man came out of hiding and shot into the air to scare away passersby. Then, Ayokunle was shot in the head and the men escaped with his bag and mobile phone set,” Deaconess Olajusi said.

    The Nation learnt that immediately after he was shot, some sympathisers summoned the courage to ascertain what was happening. A community leader saw him in a pool of blood and raised the alarm. The police were called. A police team led by the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) Ajimuda Olatunji, hit the scene. Already unconscious, Ayokunle was taken to Ancillary Hospital, Iju, where he was pronounced dead.

    Deaconess Olajusi, who said she was alerted with a phone call by a relative, explained: “When I got to his house, where I was told they needed me at the hospital. I was shocked. At the hospital, I discovered he was shot in the head; there was so much blood on him.”

    Yesterday, his neighbours at the Galilee Avenue were still in shock. For the fact that the area had been crime-free in recent times, many believed it was an assassination. “This is not an ordinary robbery; this hired killing,” a resident said.

    His widow said her husband handled a debt recovery for his bank that week, leading to the arrest and detention of certain persons. The late Ayokunle was said to have expressed worries about the case.

    “My husband did not fight with anyone. Before he left, he promised to notify me if he would be going to Badagry that day. He was always very helpful; no one could ever say anything bad about him,” she said.

    However, a source at the Iju Police Station (Red House) said the police were working on several theories with a view to unraveling his killers.

    “This is unusual, but we won’t leave any stone unturned. We cannot conclude about the motive yet, but we are working on several theories. I can confirm to you that the crime rate here has greatly reduced due to our zero tolerance stance on crimes. And when we have isolated cases like this, we will get to their bottom,” the source told The Nation.

    The deceased was said to have moved into his own house last December, while he became an Assistant Manager at the BOI earlier this year. “We don’t understand what could have caused this; his colleagues have been coming here. We are not certain if it has to do with his work,” a relative said.

    Meanwhile, residents and associates are mourning the murder of the “peaceful and generous man.” Yesterday, prayer warriors from the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) held fervent prayers against his killers. His widow sat in sobriety, her eyes half-closed. Their three children – aged 10, 6 and 4 years – seemed unaware of what had befallen them.

    A resident, Rasheed Moshood, a commercial motorcycle rider, told The Nation: “The man (Ayokunle) was good. He would always give me money anytime I had an opportunity to carry him. His killers must be found. They won’t rest until they are caught and brought to justice.”

    “His killers went away with his phone. We called it that day; nobody responded. Later that night, it went dead,” Omolara said.

  • Pathologist gives more details on how Cynthia was murdered

    Pathologist gives more details on how Cynthia was murdered

    The Consultant pathologist at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Prof. John Obafunwa, on Friday gave more insight into how Cynthia Osokogu was killed by two young men she met on Facebook.

    According to Obafunwa, the late Cynthia’s Osokogu’s mouth was stuffed with a black and yellow hair net, a white handkerchief and the attachment of the weaveon.

    He said that a tape was also fixed before her mouth.

    Obafunwa revealed these while showing pictures of the autopsy activities on the late Cynthia from the beginning to the end of the procedure.

    He was giving evidence before Justice Olabisi Akinlade of a Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja.

    The pathologist testified as a prosecution witness in the ongoing trial of the suspected killers of Cynthia.

    Cynthia, 24, was allegedly drugged and murdered in a hotel room in Lagos last July by the duo of Okwumo Nwabufor and Olisaeloka Ezike, who are facing charges bordering on conspiracy to commit murder, murder and felony.

    Also, Osita Orji, a pharmacist who sold the Rophynol drug to the alleged murderers, is accused of reckless and negligent act, while Nonso Ezike, who pawned the deceased’s Blackberry phone, is charged with possession of stolen property.

    The professor of pathology stated further that the late Cynthia’s lungs were heavily engorged with blood weighing 400-500 grammes rather than the normal 250-300 grammes, adding that there were also tiny beads on the surface, which he attributed to blood accumulation called pulmonary oedema.

    Obafunwa explained further that there were also tiny beads in the lining of her voice box while the kidney when sliced had dark spots in some areas, indicating a shut down of blood circulation due to shock.

    Prof Obafunwa, who was being cross examined by defence counsels, maintained that there was no evidence that the late Cynthia was suffering from any disease like asthma or tuberculosis, based on their examination and microscopic study.

    According to him, the seven bruises on Cynthia’s thighs were suspected to be bite marks while when the corpse was skinned, deep bruises, which couldn’t be seen on the skin were found on various parts of her legs.

    The autopsy pictures revealed that Cyhthia’s hands were tied with tape and a chain covered with blue plastic wrap and there were bruises at the back of her right hand and her mouth was disfigured.

    The pathologist stated that Cynthia’s corpse was labelled unknown when brought in, and that the only clothing she had on was an under shirt with pink stripes

    The professor of Forensic Medicine had earlier testified that Cynthia died from asphyxia, that is, absence of oxygen supply to the body, adding that the blockage of the deceased’s upper respiratory airways was the immediate cause of her death.

    The matter was adjourned till May 31, 2013.

  • Imo deputy governor’s aide murdered

    •Body found four days after abduction

    Laz Anyanwu, the Protocol Officer attached to Imo State Deputy Governor, was yesterday found dead in Owerri, the state capital, four days after he was abducted by unknown gunmen.

    The late deputy governor’s aide was a Director of Administration and Services (DAS) in Ohaji-Egbema Local Government.

    He was reportedly found dead near a bush path at Nwaoriebe in Mbaitoli Local Government yesterday evening.

    It was learnt that the late Anyanwu was kidnapped near the Government House last Friday evening.

    His abductors did not contact his family or anyone else, it was learnt.

    Governor Rochas Okorocha, who was to address a stakeholders’ meeting at the Government House, was devastated when the remains of the Protocol Officer were brought to the Government House.

    It was gathered that no ransom was demanded by the kidnappers.

    A government source said Anyanwu’s killing may have been politically-motivated.

     

  • Man’s inhumanity to man: Murdered by friends, corpse hidden by Police

    He woke up that fateful day on November 6, oblivious of the fate awaiting him in just a matter of hours.

    Done with his toilet routine, Goodnews Udo set out for work, hoping to return the following day. He never did. He was killed by two brothers over a meager transaction that went awry.

    Unlike his beautiful name-Goodnews-he was rendered a bad-news to his aged parents who had struggled to raise him.

    Ironically, the two brothers trained under him as plumbers according to a source who pleaded anonymity.

    Udo’s neighbours are still in shock that a dispute over ownership of a mattress could be the reason for his death. They are also suspicions that there might be more to it. Goodnews had the plan to move to a better accommodation after the Christmas-a plan- he has told his assailants.

    The two brothers wanted to buy the mattress from him. They settled for N3,000. The brothers paid N2,000 with a promise to pay N1,000 after the Christmas break when they would take custody of the mattress. Trouble however began when the brothers came for the mattress on November 6, asking for the mattress contrary to their earlier agreement. Udo who promised to keep his own side of the deal reminded them that the delivery date was after the Christmas break when they would have all returned from their villages.

    Our Correspondent gathered that the adamant brothers insisted on taking custody. Sensing that they had made up their mind to change the agreement, Udo, it was learnt, told the brothers to come for their money the following day to stave off trouble. But there was no consensus between the parties which eventually led to a squabble.

    Neighbors who heard their raised voices rushed to the scene to separate them. The brothers went away. Unknown to Udo, they had laid an ambush for him. As he was going out to buy food, they attacked him. He decided to fight for his freedom. In the ensuing melee, one of the brothers ran away only to return with a knife which he used to stab the deceased in the stomach. Realizing that his life was in danger, Udo fled the scene with blood gushing from his stomach. But he could not run for too long before he collapsed close to a nearby church.

    A woman who was going for bible study sighted him and covered his stomach with her wrapper before raising the alarm for rescue.

    The pastor of the church (name withheld) and a few congregations rushed to the scene where they evacuated to the Apo Police Station where the pastor made a formal complaint before taking him to the hospital in the company of the Police where he was confirmed dead.

    Since the unfortunate incident residents of the Apo resettlement area have been in perpetual fear of possible raid by the Police. Some who witnessed the ugly scene have also kept sealed lips for fear of police case.

    When our Correspondent visited the uncompleted shopping mall in the area, the place was quiet. The house once occupied by the deceased was also in disarray. His parents who live in Ibadan, Oyo state, were still in shock.

    Only the father tried to speak; and when he did, he caved in to emotion. With tears rolling down his cheek, he began to recant the event.

    Mr. Tom Udo said “We are sad by this tragic loss. He was our hope; we did the little within our means to send him to secondary school. We could not send to high institution due to our economic situation. But he worked hard and struggle to learn plumbing from where he was fending for himself and the family. Each time he called, he always gave us hope. He promised to bring us out of poverty when he relocated to Abuja. I remember the exact words. He said:” daddy and mummy don’t worry, if I make it in life suffering will be a thing of the past in this family.” I did not know he would meet his death in Abuja. His mother also did not know. If we knew, we would have discouraged him from coming to Abuja. But we are not God-we don’t know tomorrow.”

    If Udo’s death was tragic, it is more tragic that his parents are still battling to know the whereabouts of his corpse since it was taken away by the Police. They said the whereabouts of the remains of their late son has been guarded in secrecy by the Police authority.

    Besides, they alleged that the Police had not done much to bring the criminal to justice.

    “Up till today, the Police are yet to tell me the whereabouts of his remains. I have been frustrated by every step I have taken”, the bereaved man said.

    Calls to the FCT Police Public Relation Officer (PPRO), Doris England, were not answered. She did also not reply to a text message from Our Correspondent, on the allegation.

    But the family’s Lawyer, Austin Uzendu, said he had written two petitions to the Police on the case with no response.

    He said the parents of the deceased had faced humiliation in the hands of the Police in their efforts to seek Justice on the matter. He could also not tell if the Police had any plan to charge the two brothers.

    Uzendu who is handling the case free said confirmed that the Police had not disclosed the whereabouts of remains to the family.