Suspect Narrates How He Butchered Owner Of Fireman Generators, Chief Odunukwe To Take Over His 900m Property
The prime suspect in the killing of Chief Ignatius Odunukwe, the owner of Fireman generating sets, Daniel Bob Ibeaji, has revealed what led to conspiring with three others to kill the billionaire businessman.
Ibeaji, 42, made the statement following the recovery of the dismembered body of the businessman in Ogombo forest in Ajah area of Lagos State.
He further revealed how he conspired with three others: Arinze Igwe, 26; Solomon Cletus 30 and Israel Obigaremu, 35, to murder Odunukwe at Artican Beach Resort, in Ajah area of Lagos, on December 1, 2019.
Ibeaji who claimed to have studied Medicine and Surgery in Edinburgh, United Kingdom, disclosed that the deceased was about to sell them a landed property but they kidnapped him at the location they agreed upon to meet up in order to seal the deal.
Ibeaji further stated that they first hit him on the head with an axe, then injected with an excess dose of a lethal injection that weakened him before he was strangled to death. They dismembered his body and dumped it in the bush.
It was revealed that the suspects forced the billionaire to sign the agreement for the transfer of his #900 million naira worth of property to Ibeaji before he was injected with a lethal substance.
Reports say the deceased, who was also into estate development and gold mining, was approached by the prime suspect in respect of one of his buildings he displayed for sale, in Abuja.
Late Odunukwe, left his Ikoyi, Lagos abode on December 1, 2019, having informed his family that he was going to meet the supposed buyer but he never returned home.
His body which was cut into pieces was recovered by operatives of the Zonal Intervention Squad, ZIS of the Zone 2 Command, last week, in a canal in Ogombo forest along Ajah road, while his 4- Runner SUV was tracked to Artican Beach Resort.
Explaining why the late businessman was murdered, Ibeaji, who was paraded by the Assistant Inspector General of Police in-charge of Zone 2, AIG Ahmed Iliyasu, at the canal where the victim’s body was recovered, said,
“I killed him because I wanted to take the property worth 900 million naira. Lust for material things made me kill him. I met him last September in Abuja, through an advert for the sale of the property in question. Later, I called him on the phone to inform him that I was ready to make payment and he told me to come to Lagos.
That Sunday afternoon, when I was sure he was on his way to Artican Beach Resort, I instructed one of my boys to bring a bag for me. After he signed the documents of the building in question, in the garden, I told him to come inside the hotel room so as to give him the money.
Ibeaji revealed that he hit an axe on the head of the Chief while he was inspecting a bag containing some cash brought by one of my colleagues.
In his statement, he noted that they dragged Chief to the toilet and inejcted him with two doses of diazepam in order to lose consciousness.
The prime suspect added that;
I wanted to use the signed document to claim the property as mine and later sell it. Lust for money made me do this.
During preliminary investigation, he was discovered to have been arrested in connection with two other similar cases. One of them was in respect to the murder of a Commissioner in Bayelsa State, one Honourable Depologa, whose remains were found along Abuja road. His murder as gathered, occurred a week after his encounter with Ibeaji, at Ibeto Hotel, Abuja.
One of his accomplices, Solomon Cletus, also confessed to have bagged the remains of Odunukwe after they confirmed that he was dead.
He said;
Ibeaji, promised to pay me N2 million at the end of the deal. We were able to smuggle the body out of the hotel with the help of one of its staff, Arinze Igwe. He took us through the back door. Thereafter, the body was kept inside a bag and with the help of one of the hotel staff, we smuggled the bag out of the hotel.
On his part, Israel Obigaremu, who claimed to be an Uber driver, said he had no hand in the murder of Odunukwe.
He explained that;
Arinze only brought the car to my house. He said it was his master’s, who traveled out of the country. He promised to come and pick it the next day. It was after the arrest that I discovered the owner of the car was murdered
The AIG of Police, Iliyasu, therefore, cautioned Nigerians to be cautious of information they post on social media, that may alert criminals to use such information to get their targets.
To other criminal elements in Lagos and Ogun States, he warned them saying
I am sounding this clear warning to other criminals out there, that the Zone 2 Police Command, comprising Lagos and Ogun States, has no space for hoodlums to hibernate. The atmosphere will never be conducive for them.
