Family of lady murdered in Lagos apartment calls for justice

The family of a lady, Foejiro Ojite, found murdered in her apartment in Ketu have asked police authorities to ensure that her killers are brought to book.

According to The Punch, Foejiro, 31, was killed in her apartment in the Agiliti area of Ketu in Lagos on July 27, 2023.

The assailants reportedly slit her throat and set the apartment on fire.

It was the smoke coming out of the apartment that alerted her neighbours who forced the door open and discovered her lifeless body on the floor with her hand burnt.

The police confirmed the incident in July and noted that the corpse was evacuated and deposited at the mortuary for autopsy, adding that detectives at the State Criminal Investigation Department, Yaba, were investigating the matter.

An autopsy report prepared by the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital dated August 31, 2023, and obtained by our correspondent revealed that she died from “sharp force trauma to the neck.”

Meanwhile, her father, Michael Eroh, who spoke with The Punch in September, tackled the state police command and alleged that the case was not being handled as expected.

Eroh also alleged that three suspects arrested in connection to the killing of her daughter had been released.

The distraught father said, “We are not getting a clear direction from the police and I am really worried. The killers made away with her two phones. They withdrew some money from the husband’s bank app on the phone. Two phone numbers were recharged with airtime.

“The police have tracked the phone, recovered them, and arrested three persons but they have also been released. I do not trust the police’s investigation. I need help from whosoever can help me for justice on those who assassinated my daughter.”

Foejiro’s husband, Ojite Tesywhite, also said the method of investigating the case was poor.

He said, “They (the police) said they would make use of a tracker to get the suspect that transferred over N500,000 from the account on the phone. The case was transferred to Panti.

“They said they would trace the owner of the account where the money was transferred. I mobilised them (financially) for that. They said what they did was to place a tracker on the account so that when the suspect went to withdraw at the bank, he would be arrested. That method is very poor.”

Contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, promised to find out about the case and get back to our correspondent.

“I will find out and get back to you,” Hundeyin said in a chat with our correspondent. He had yet to revert as of the time of filing this report.

But a top police source in the state command, who did not want to be named because he was not authorised to speak on the matter, said the police couldn’t release suspects involved in the murder case except if found innocent.

“We have many murder cases. We can never release a suspect in a murder case. But if the suspects arrested in connection to such a case are found innocent, they could be released. Those that have been established to be involved in the case will not be released,” the senior officer said.