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The suspects. Inset: Items recovered from them.
| credits: Eniola Akinkuotu |
The suspects who allegedly killed Cynthia Osokogu, daughter of Maj.-Gen. Frank Osokogu (retd.), on July 22, 2012, have admitted that they drugged and beat the 24-year-old girl before she died.
The suspects – Nwabuzo Okumo and Odera Ezekiel – described the incident as a mistake. They claimed that they only wanted to rob her and flee from the hotel before things went awry.
Okumo, a 300-level Accounting student of the University of Lagos, said he met the deceased on BlackBerry Messenger and established a relationship with her before inviting her to Lagos.
He said, “We met through a group on BlackBerry Messenger. We had formed a kind of friendship online.
“When she told me that she was coming to Lagos to buy some goods for her boutique in Abuja, I invited her to Casmillo Hotel, Amuwo Odofin, where an incident led to her death. It was not planned that way. It was a big mistake.
“She arrived in Lagos from Abuja on Sunday, July 21 and I took her to the hotel. I gave her a pack of Ribena juice, which had been injected with a drug I use on women that makes them dizzy, weak and wipes their memory afterwards. I have used the drugs on four girls but it did not kill them.
“I stayed in the room with her for about 12 hours. We talked; I used a vibrator (sex toy) on her. I noticed that she did not drink all the juice and so the drug was not as effective as expected.
“I had no choice than to engage her in a struggle. I had to tie her so that she would not be able to follow me after robbing her.”
However, Ezekiel, a 400-level student of Accounting at the Anambra State University, said he was called by Okumo to help him tie up the girl. He said it was when Cynthia was struggling with them that they beat her up before chaining her.
He said he gave Okumo two packs of Ribena juice that were injected with 10 tablets of xxx.
He said, “I didn’t know the victim. The morning it happened, he (Okumo), said I should come and help him bind the girl because he wanted to steal her belongings. In the process of binding her, she was struggling so we had to beat her up and it was in the process that she passed out. We used our hands in beating her; we did not use any weapon.
“She was still breathing as at the time I left the hotel.”
While parading the suspects, the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Command, Umar Manko, said the suspects specialise in luring young ladies and robbing them. He added that it was unclear if the boys killed their previous victims or not.
“The young lady was found dead and chained in a room in the hotel. Someone called the hotel reception and said, ‘Go and get the dead body of a bastard from your room’. When the lady was found, her identity could not be ascertained,” he said.
It was learnt that a yellow card belonging to the victim was found in the hotel room. From the card, he said the police called immigration authorities and got the passport number and details of the victim.
Manko said, “Her identity was not known but from the telephone number used in calling the hotel, we started our investigations until we got her passport number through the Immigration Service and were able to establish her identity.
“Through CCTV footage, we discovered that two young men entered into her room. We were able to trace the suspects through the phone number that called the hotel.”
Our correspondent learnt that the police initially arrested Ezekiel’s girlfriend. She aided them in apprehending Ezekiel who had run to Anambra State.
Punch Metrolearnt that Ezekiel then led the police to Okumo in FESTAC.
Manko said, “The boys are cousins and both are from Anambra State. We’ve been told that this is not their first time but we’ve not been able to able to establish if they always kill their victims. It’s a very long investigation and it’s still ongoing.
“The case is a lesson to people using social networks to be very careful. The suspects will be charged to court for murder.”
The CP however added that no employee of the hotel was involved in the crime.
The items recovered from the suspects are seven driving licences (three belonging to Ezekiel, four belonging to Okumo with different names); the deceased’s belongings, including her shoes(found in Okumo’s house); 17 mobile phones, two Diamond Bank rubber stamps, two syringes, a pack of Ribena, 22 SIM cards, a chain, 12 debit and credit cards.
