Billionaire businessman and Chief Executive Officer of Firman Generator, Late Chief Ignatius Odunukwe’s suspected killers have been arraigned before the Igbosere Magistrate Court 3, Lagos on three count charges, Conspiracy, Murder and Kidnap on Thursday, 9th July, 2020 by operatives of Zone 2 Police Command, Onikan, Lagos.
The Zonal Police Public Relations Officer of Zone-2 Onikan Lagos, DSP Hauwa Idris-Adamu narrated how Odunukwe, 60, was lured to Artican Beach Resort in Ajah area of Lagos on December 1, 2019 by the leader of the gang, Daniel Bob Ibeaji (42), whose aim for the dastardly act was, according to the police, to fraudulently convert the unsuspecting victim’s N900m property in Abuja to his own.
Bob, who claimed to be a medical doctor, had overtime canvassed the victim into believing that he was interested in the property, a bait the late Odunukwe swallowed thin, line and sinker and filled with the excitement that he had succeeded in getting a serious buyer for the property, he made for the fixed meeting point on the fateful Sunday, December 1st, only to be lured into his hotel room by Bob, after tricking him to sign the document transferring the ownership to him.
The late Odunukwe was hit with an axe on the head by his boys, Arinze Uzor Igwe, 26, Solomon Cletus, 30 and Israel Obigaremu, 35. He was thereafter dragged into the toilet, held down by Bob’s boys while he injected him twice with a poisonous injection. Convinced that he had died, Bob instructed his boys to evacuate the corpse, that was packaged in a cellotaped carton and thrown into a swamp in Ogonboh Forest in Ajah.
The suspects were paraded at the spot the remains of the victim was dumped and recovered, they confessed and stated clearly that one of them, Israel Obigaremu, 35,
was just an uba driver who knew nothing about their evil plan and since has been exonerated in accordance with Director of Public Prosecutors (DPP).
According to the police boss, AIG Ahmed Iliyasu stated that, Odunukwe, having been tricked into believing he was dealing with a potential buyer of the said property, and thought he would be N900m richer on that day that turned to be his last on the planet earth, went alone to the place and, regrettably, never made it back, a development that threw his family members into confusion and sought the intervention of the police.
“The family members, in a petition to my office as the AIG in-charge of Zone 2, narrated their trauma since the sudden disappearance of their loved one. On this note, I summoned the tactical Commander of Zonal Monitoring Unit (ZMU) SP Uba Adams, and directed him to go after the victim’s abductors, ensure their arrests as well as to rescue the victim alive.
Meanwhile, the victim had been killed, even before investigation commenced. It was the same day, December 1, that he was declared missing that they killed him in a most horrifying and cruel manner. He was strangled and injected with a poisonous and lethal substance in a hotel room in Ajah area of Lagos State”, Iliyasu stated.
However, according to the AIG, “Investigation revealed that Daniel Bob Ibeaji had been living on ill-gotten money through this means for some time now. Two incidents that have been established against him were that of a civil commissioner in Bayelsa State, where one Honourable Depologa was murdered and his remains found along Abuja Expressway. This happened a week after his encountered with the victim at Ibeto Hotel, Abuja, during their discussion he (Ibeaji) offered to give the victim N220m for a block of flat at Durumi, Abuja.
“The second victim was one Jude Efulue, a property developer in Abuja. Efulue also swamped into Bob’s net and was held captive in an apartment, and forced him to sign a prepared document transferring the ownership of the victim’s property to him. He also discovered that the victim had N9m in his account. But with the help of neighbours who called the police, Bob and his cohorts were apprehended and charged to court accordingly. It was in Kuje Prison, where Cletus was also serving a jail term that he and Bob met and had to reunite on leaving the prison to execute this dastardly act”, Iliyasu stated.
He also warned that, “For those of you criminals, note that these suspects never anticipated to be caught. Here they are today. I am sounding this clear warning to those criminals out there that Zone 2 Command, comprising Lagos and Ogun states, has no space for hoodlums to incubate and hibernate. The atmosphere will never be conducive for them. This is achievable with your assistance of providing useful information to the police, as policing is everybody’s business”.
Exhibits recovered from the suspects were, according to Iliyasu: one medical identity card, an axe, remains of the victim, three AK47 rifles, one Pump Action gun, one Ford SUV (belonging to the victim, the victim’s house documents, a Toyota Corolla and a Nissan Saloon Car (both Uber, three Techno, four Nokia, two Samsung and one Bontel phones.
The presiding officer at Magistrate Court 3, Chief Magistrate Komolafe, ordered that the suspects be reminded at Correctional Centre, Ikoyi, Lagos.
He adjourned this further heating till August 10, 2020