Lagos State Police Command is currently investigating the
circumstances surrounding the kidnap and murder of a 20-year-old undergraduate,
identified as John Chinedu Okere, who until his death was a 300 level
Electrical Engineering student at Covenant University, Otta in Ogun State.
Vanguard, reports that Chinedu left his parent’s house in
the morning of Wednesday, August 6, 2014, to a Hospital in Yaba, Lagos for
medical reasons and never returned. He reportedly left home with about N6000
and that was the last time he was seen alive.
The mysterious disappearance of Chinedu, caused a stir as
the parents ran helter-skelter, in search of him to no avail. They gathered
from some family members that one of his friends called on phone earlier that
morning to tell him to meet him at an undisclosed hotel.
Chinedu’s father said: “At about mid-day, I received an
SMS that John had been kidnapped. Later, I received a phone call from a hidden
number. The caller said they had my son, Chinedu and demanded N10 million as
ransom threatening to kill him if we refuse to comply. Immediately, I inquired
who the caller was, the line went dead. My wife and I quickly reported the case
to the Divisional Police Station at Sabo, Yaba.”
After the case was reported to the Police at Sabo, Yaba,
it was later transferred to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, Ikeja the
next day where investigations commenced.
It was learnt that initially when the whole issue
started, the family of the victim felt it was a kidnap that would just be
resolved but unfortunately, as events continued to unfold, it turned out to be
a premeditated murder.
Shockingly, the decomposing corpse of Chinedu was
discovered in one of the rooms at ‘DE Homes Hotel’ located in Ejigbo by one of
their staff, two days later.
According to reports, the Manager of the hotel went to
Ejigbo Divisional Police Station on Friday, 8, 2014, to report the case of
murder and investigation began.
A reliable source in the hotel intimated that early on
Wednesday morning, the prime suspect, Okorocha Michael along with another young
man simply identified as Okey,checked into the hotel with the name Christian.
“He booked the room for three days with the name Christian. He claimed he is a
youth corps member who wanted to write exams and would be there from that
Wednesday to Friday. He also said he was expecting his cousin to join him in
the hotel.
‘After booking, Michael left his friend Okey in the hotel
and returned an hour before the victim, Chinedu arrived the hotel, which was at
about 3pm that day. As soon as Chinedu arrived the hotel, Michael took him to
the room.
We don’t know what happened inside the room. However, it
was later gathered that during their stay in the room, the suspect reportedly
confronted the victim on some personal issues. The confrontation eventually led
to a heated argument, which later led to the suspect strangulating the victim
to death. On Friday, a hotel staff discovered the lifeless body of the
young man and alerted the police.”
According to reports, Chinedu was murdered and left in
the pool of his blood by unfriendly friends, who brutally killed and abandoned
his corpse, went ahead and demanded for ransom from his parents.
It was also learnt the 24-year-old suspect,
Okorocha Michael, who was arrested on Sunday, in a friend’s house around Ajah
area in Lagos, is a graduate of Lagos City Polytechnic, Ikeja. He has been
unemployed since he completed his youth service in February this year.
A family member who spoke on the condition of anonymity
revealed that the Okere’s were willing to pay the ransom, and were still trying
to get it when his corpse was discovered. ‘We sincerely pray that law takes it
full course, his killers brought to book and Chinedu will get the justice he
deserves even in death,’ the source stated.
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