Sunday, March 6, 2011
It was a gory and bizarre scene, just like in a fiction or acting in Okota, Isolo Lagos yesterday as a middle-aged man was caught by the police with the lifeless body of his friend in a drum. The body was chopped in small pieces to make it fit into the blue plastic drum that is like less than half of the height of an average adult.
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Detectives from the Ago Police Station Okota, arrested a man, Israel Okafor Okereke who allegedly slaughtered his friend and dumped his body in the drum. Ogbonnaya Basil, the victim, was declared missing by his wife Mrs. Uzoma Ogbonnaya.
It was a pitiable sight at the police station as sympathisers and the angry crowd gathered at the premises with their noses covered to behold the body of the deceased infested with flies and maggots in the drum.
When Saturday Sun met the Divisional Police Officer, CSP Dan Iyamah for information on the incident, he said all facts finding on the incident should be handled by the State Police Public Relations Officer.
However, a reliable source who would not disclose his identity revealed that the wife of the deceased, Mrs. Ogbonnaya who lives at Ago reported to the police station that she called her husband the previous day to know where he was as it was getting late, and he said he was at Israel’s house in the Omiyale area of Ejigbo.
The following morning, she called and the line was not through. So she had to visit Israel’s house in the evening to know what the matter was. The deceased was said to be an in-law to the man that allegedly butchered him, and both are from Ebonyi State. during Mrs. Uzoma’s visit, Israel denied knowledge of Ogbonnaya’s whereabouts but Uzoma insisted that her husband told her the previous day he was at his place.
Because Israel insisted he never knew where his friend and in-law could be found, Mrs. Ogbonnaya had to stay put there and eventually spent the night since it was already late to go back.
The following morning, she reported the case at the police station and detectives were sent to arrest Israel to confirm or deny Basil’s whereabouts. He still insisted he never knew what became of his friend on police interrogation. Israel denied any knowledge of seeing Basil. But when the detectives visited his home, they spotted bloodstains all over the place - on handkerchiefs, pillow, and the floor. He could not give the police a reasonable answer for the bloodstains. After an initial refusal to answer more questions, he buckled after a lengthy interrogation. First, he said that some people in suit came to his place and shot Basil but later changed his story that he alone committed the heinous crime because the deceased owed him N1.5m. He said he used a machete on his victim and in-law.
After his confession, he took the policemen to a place on Ejigbo road where he neatly packed the corpse inside a drum.
The distance between the scene of crime to where the drum was found was up to 10 kilometres, said the source.
The suspect who runs a big boutique on No. 131 Ago Palace Way Okota took the policemen there to conduct a search in case of any other hidden incriminating evidence.
Incidentally, a sticker pasted at the back of the suspect’s red Mercedes Benz 190 reads: This year, money shall be my servant.
It was also scooped that Basil helped in setting up the shop and assisted him to China to buy goods.
The police were showered with praises for unravelling the murder, which usually takes eternity to crack in Nigeria.
The PPRO, DSP Samuel Junaid, confirmed the incident and added that the suspect has been transferred to the State CID in Panti Street.
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