COVENANT UNIVERSITY STUDENT KIDNAPPED AND MURDERED BY HIS FRIENDS IN LAGOS

John Chinedu Okere, a 300 level Electrical Engineering student of the Covenant University, Otta in Ogun State, has been kidnapped and murdered in Lagos by his friends.

According to reports, Chinedu, 20, left home Wednesday morning, August 6, 2014, to a Hospital in Yaba, Lagos for medical reasons. Jude Okeke, Chinedu’s father narrated that about mid-day of the same day, he received an SMS notifying him that Chinedu had been kidnapped.

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.”

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 decomposed 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 told Vanguard newspaper that ‘’early 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 was 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.

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.

NB: This is very pathetic and saddens news; children beware of the kind of friends you keep.
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