UNTOLD STORY OF HOW CYNTHIA OZOKOGU MEETS HER UNTIMELY DEATH

Babalola Yusuf Abiola 

If Cynthia Ozokogu had known that Nwabuzo Okumo, the guy he met on the social networking site lately would cause her untimely death; then she would probably have avoided him the very first day the conversation started.

After series of conversation between the duo, Cynthia developed a level of confidence in Okumo hence, informed him about his boutique business and how she frequently come to Lagos to buy stuffs for her store.

Sensing no malevolence the 24-Years Old model asked Okumo to help her arrange for her flight ticket to Lagos and also reserve a hotel where she would lodge into when she comes to Lagos to get wares for her boutique.

But, the Nasarawa State University post graduate student got it wrong, as Okumo who she thought would reciprocate the level of confidence she has for him has a sinister plan of robbing her of the cash she wants to use to purchase wares in Lagos.

The journey went as planned for Cynthia as she arrived Lagos and was received at the airport by his social network friend who lodged her inside the hotel he helped her arranged and such swung to action by giving the Abuja based model a pack of Ribena fruit juice that has been injected with a drug that will make her dizzy and weak.

According to the culprit “We met through a group on BlackBerry Messenger and we formed a kind of friendship online.

“Then through our constant conversation 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.

The University of Lagos Undergraduate explained further, “I help her arrange for her flight ticket from Abuja to Lagos, so 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 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.”

Meanwhile, when Okumo realized that he could not handle Cynthia alone he called his cousin, Odera Ezekiel who is a 400-Level Accounting student of Anambra state university, (ANSU) for help.

Ezekiel said “I didn’t know the victim. The day it happened, Okumo, called me and begged me to come and help him bind the girl because he wanted to steal her belongings. 

“But In the process of binding her, she was struggling with us 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,” he claimed.

Though, the state police commissioner while parading the suspects said Cynthia was not the first victim of the suspects as they have previously used the drugs on four different girls. 

Manko said, “These suspects specialise in luring young ladies and robbing them. But it was unclear if these boys killed their previous victims or not.

•  faces of Cynthia Ozokogu killer, insert Cynthia Osokogu

“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.

Moreover, 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 stated further, “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.”

However, further investigation showed that Ezekiel was arrested in Anambra State and led the police to where Okumo lives in FESTAC.

The police commissioner said, “The boys are cousins and both are from Anambra State. But this is definitely a very long investigation as a lot of thing will be unraveled so investigation is still ongoing.

Also, two women have reported to the Area E Police Command, FESTAC, Lagos claiming that they were also drugged and raped by the suspects.

The two identified the suspects – Nwabuzo Okumo and Odera Ezekiel – and wrote statements at the police command, but effort to get the names of the ladies proved abortive as the Police Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide refused to give out their names citing security reasons.

But unlike reports in different sections of the media that one of the employees of Cosmilas hotel connived with the perpetrators to carry out the dastardly act. The CP said “no employee of the hotel was involved in the criminal act.”