By ABDULWAHAB & ONOZURE DANIA
Trial of the four men who allegedly murdered Cynthia Osokogu, a Nasarawa born lady they met through the social network, facebook commenced yesterday after they were arraigned before an Ikeja High Court for murder.

Okwumo Nwabufo, Ezike Olisaeloka, Orji Osita and Ezike Nonso are facing a six-count charge of conspiracy, murder, stealing and negligence before Justice Olabisi Akinlade.

At the resumed trial, the prosecution team led by the state Attorney-General, Mr Ade Ipaye presented their first witness, Mrs Ifenyinwa Njegbu, a receptionist at the hotel where Cynthia was allegedly killed who told the court how the first two defendants, who brought the lady to the hotel bolted after killing her, under the pretence that they want to withdraw money from ATM.

Before the commencement of the trial, the six-count charge were read to them and they all pleaded not guilty.
Okwumo Echezona Nwabufo (right) and Ezike Ilechukwu Olisaeloka, suspected murderers of Late Miss Cynthia Osokogu Udoka covering their faces at the Yaba Magistrate Court, Lagos yesterday. Photo: Lamidi Bamidele.

Okwumo Echezona Nwabufo (right) and Ezike Ilechukwu Olisaeloka, suspected murderers of Late Miss Cynthia Osokogu Udoka covering their faces at the Yaba Magistrate Court, Lagos. Photo: Lamidi Bamidele.

The state alleged that two of the defendants Okwumo and Ezike on or about 22 July, 2012 at Cosmilla Hotel, Amuwo-Odofin, Festac Town, conspired to murder Cynthia Osokogu.

The state also alleged that the defendants murdered Cynthia by administering Rohypnol Flunitrazepan tablet into her drink, chained her hands and legs and strangled her to death.

The duo were also alleged to have stolen three blackberry phones valued at N150,000, Jewelries, an international passport and a drivers licence belonging to Cynthia after they strangled her to death.

Orji Osita, the third suspect was charged for negligently selling the Rohypnol Flunitrazepan tablets to Ezike, the second defendant without a doctors prescription and without showing due care.


Ezike Nonso, the man who allegedly bought Cynthia’s stolen blackberry Bold 5 was charged for being in possession of a stolen phone.

In her evidence, Mrs Njegbu told the court that while on duty on Saturday 21, July 2012, she checked in two guests, a man and a woman who claimed to be couples into room C1 of the hotel at about 12am.

She disclosed that at about 8am while she was preparing to hand over to one of her colleagues, Vivian Amule, the couple informed her through phone that they were checking out.

”After I had handed over to my colleague, I asked her to check out the couple since they had told me that they were leaving that morning.”

Njegbu noted that when she resumed duty the next day,she was briefed that the couple had left and that a brother of the man had taken over the room because the room was not going to expire until 12pm of July 22, 2012. So she noted that the brother of the man who had booked the room, was still occupying the room.

She said while sitting at the reception, a man in brown long sleeve shirt went straight into the bar with a brown bag and he was drinking, when asked to describe the person she saw, she described the second defendant as dark in complexion, tall, young and also identified him as the second person in the dock on a pink Polo T shirt.

According to her, she asked the first defendant if he lodged in the hotel and he said yes and that she had earlier called his room and but said he was staying but will only went out to made a withdrawal at the ATM machine to pay for the next day, adding that his his girl friend was still up stairs with the key. She said she responded by informing him to come back before 12noon, when their rent will expire.

She told the court that after sometime she saw a man who is fair in complexion that wore a dark sun glasses coming down from the upstairs towards her, where the second defendant (Ezike Eloka) in the bar met with the first defendant (Nwabufor Okwumo) at the reception and they went out together before she stopped him, because it is the normal thing to do, especially when the person did not officially lodged in the hotel.

The witness, said they didn’t show up until around 3pm, when someone called the intercom phone of the hotel and identified himself as the occupant of room C1, revealing that he is not going to return to the hotel, saying “ you people should remove the Idiot from the room.”

Nejgbu said she replied that sir “but you promised to come back and pay for the room”, the only thing he did was to drop the phone.

”Immediately I called the manager and explained what had happened. So he told me that if he doesn’t come back the girl will pay for the C1 room, so he told me to call the room through the company’s intercom phone and I called but there was no response, “

”The manager, Mr Victor went up stairs and said he knocked at the door and there was no response, so he told me to take the master key since am a lady like her that I should go and open the door, so I went up stairs to the room and knocked severally and there was no response. So I used the master key to open the door and I met the deceased Cynthia naked on the bed, with one of her legs touching the ground in room C1 and I was shocked and shouted Jesus.”

She added that she rushed down to inform the manager, who went upstair to identify the corpse.

She added that the next thing was that she saw police men who called all of them on duty to identify those they saw through the CCtv in the hotel.

She further said that she was able to identify the first and second defendant and the police took them to “Area E” police station where their statements were taken.

She said two weeks later someone called the hotel and asked for the details of Cynthia the deceased if she lodged in the hotel, identifying himself as the deceased’s brother.

However, she responded that it wansnt in the practice of the hotel to disclose details of their customers.

Shortly after the trial, counsel to the third and fourth defendants, Orji Osita and Ezike Nonso, the pharmacist and the man who bought Cynthia phone respectively applied for their bail.

Ruling on the bail, Justice Akinlade ordered that third defendant should continue with the N1million bail granted him at the lower court.

The Judge also granted the fourth defendant bail in the sum of N2million with two sureties.

She ordered that one of the sureties must be a grade level 14 civil servant resident in Lagos with proof of three years tax payment.

FXKing2012: I dont believe in capital punishment...hope they wont be killed.

saint22: what's wrong with killing d killers.they deserve a painful death.

cheleku:

Emotional ramblings of a kid.

FXKing2012:
haba...whatever happened to forgiveness

Tolexander: The case is clear enough naw.
The court granted bail to the 3rd and 4th defendants, while the 1st and 2nd that actually committed the offence of murder were remanded. So what is the problem here?
It means the 3rd and 4th defendants were not directly involved. I read comment which somebody mentioned the pharmacist involved. Every licensed pharmacist in nigerian must have passed through the pharmacy school which means he had undergone a pharmacy administration as a course and studied the ethics(code of conduct) of the course. Every profession has its own ethics that no one should claim ignorance of. So far he is a licensed pharmacist, under no circumstance should he have violated the rules cos of the prior knowledge of the implication. So the pharmacist has a very strong case to answere cos ignorance is not an excuse for him.

saint22: Did u say forgiveness.may killers visit u this year so we will forgive them after u must have been killed.AMEN

saint22: Did u say forgiveness.may killers visit u this year so we will forgive them after u must have been killed.AMEN

Ground zero: Talk academically... Talk with sharp reasoning and not as a wounded trader

Bliss4Lyfe: Wat a stu.pid country. 3rd and 4th person granted bail, say waitin happen. Just becos dey were not at the scene of the gruesome murder don't mean they are not guilty of the crime. In English law they are secondary participant to the crime committed and incohate offence refers to them as party to the conspiracy to rape and murder.

Those men should be rearrested immediately. They are not innocent. In fact all four deserve to be buried alive next to the lady dey murdered some months back.

Bliss4Lyfe: Wat a stu.pid country. 3rd and 4th person granted bail, say waitin happen. Just becos dey were not at the scene of the gruesome murder don't mean they are not guilty of the crime. In English law they are secondary participant to the crime committed and incohate offence refers to them as party to the conspiracy to rape and murder.

Those men should be rearrested immediately. They are not innocent. In fact all four deserve to be buried alive next to the lady dey murdered some months back.

Elsquidme: u sure say late cynthia na ur girlfriend? Prove it!

FXKing2012:
Touch not my anointed....back to sender. Better go on 40days fasting and prayer to remove the curse u just heaped on your thin head.

ypzilanti:

Who murdered? Do you have comprehension skills at all? The Pharmacists 'involvement' does not go beyond selling the drugs to the REAL murderers. The don't know the guys...they have never met the guys before. Nigerians buy 'sleeping tablets' over the counter all the time. It is wrong, but that is the norm. I'm sure you have bought same without prescription before too, or know someone who has. Since you are a bloodthirsty psycho, why don't we arrest the airline that brought Cynthia to Lagos, as well as the cab man that took her to the hotel, and all the hotel staff. The police are complicating the case by charging the Pharmacists, the court is going to waste valuable time in separating and analyzing the pleas of the Pharmacists asking for dismissal of charges against them.

You want the Judge to imprison two young Pharmacist graduates to life imprisonment or death by hanging because they wrongly sold prescription drugs? Its not going to happen. It's a waste of time and resources. The police is abusing power by charging these guys for murder. They should be charged with a lesser crime that fits their involvement in the matter. I'm sure there are laws against distribution of controlled substances.

I know all that I am explaining is beyond your reasoning capacity, but I'm just doing my best.

Bliss4Lyfe: Pharmacist have specialist knowledge.
Pharmacy selling tranquilizers to young men know exactly what the tranquilizers would be used for.
Abi the two primary offenders(Rap.ist and Murderer) be doctor?

claremont:
The Pharmacists have a strong case to answer for professional negligence, not murder.

Ground zero: Guess u are not following this argument well enough. All said,the emphasis being laid out is that though,u can claim they are all accomplice to the crime,the should be law and ethics guiding the medical world of which they should be dealt with on that regard and not any capital punishment meted to the other duo. Theirs should be minimal. I think this what we r saying here

Bliss4Lyfe:

Yes.if na your mother/sister/daughter na so you go talk? daft!
Shame, but i do not price their life above the lady they murdered. They are still breathing, dat means they have not seen wat that lady they murdered saw, wicked things.

Tolexander: yes i know and i didn't say he is guilty of the same offence with the 1st and 2nd criminals. That is why i emphasized on the pharmacy code of conduct which the pharmacist violated if u read what i said clearly.

oyb: the police don't even have any evidence that the pharmacist in question sold the drugs to the killers

this has been thrashed out on other threads in NL

it was nothing more than a game of entrapment intended to milk the situation for what it was worth

the guy with the funny haircut is an intern for that matter



if it was on nairaland cynthia had met those thugs, you can be sure our noble police would have found a way to rope seun into it - hungry muthafuckas

FXKing2012: I dont believe in capital punishment...hope they wont be killed.

Elsquidme: then blame the transport system that carried her and also blame her 4 going there.

Bliss4Lyfe: I really need to start ignoring some notice me or i die post for dis nairaland.
Some of them are just vile and vulgar. senseless idiats.