“The human
heart is the most deceitful of all things,and desperately wicked.” This
Bible verse readily comes to mind when you read about the circumstances
surrounding the death of Nigerian-born Managing Director of Guaranty Trust Bank
in Liberia, Mr. Daniel Orogun who was allegedly murdered ( read story HERE ) in cold blood by an
associate who invited him and his family to dinner on January 24, 2016.
It was learned that contrary to information received after the
incident that Mr Daniel Orogun was celebrating his an anniversary on a boat
cruise, investigations, according to close family sources, revealed that a
client of the deceased invited him to his seaside mansion where the unfortunate
incident occurred.
Dinner
at the seaside:
According to
reports, the client has been inviting the deceased and his family to his
seaside mansion home for dinner but he could not honour it. However, it was
gathered that in November last year when the banker wanted to honour one of
such invitations, he failed again after he accidentally injured his thumb on
his car door while preparing to honour it.
Elder
brother opens up:
Elder
brother to the deceased banker, Felix Orogun who spoke with Crime Alert
narrated how the ugly incident took place. He said he led a Late Mr.
Daniel Orogun family delegation to Liberia after receiving the sad news of the
death of their brother. His words: “His wife, Isioma told us that
on that fateful day, after church services that Sunday, my brother Daniel was
having a haircut at home when he received a phone call from a customer
reminding him of a dinner invitation. Reluctantly, he, alongside his wife and
children, decided to honour the invitation after the client called three more
times.
Before he
left the house, he took a bottle of wine and some soft drinks. Being a football
fan, he was said to have called his client to inform him of developments in the
Chelsea and Arsenal match.”
Narration
by deceased’s wife:
According to
his wife, “On getting to the house of the host, he offered us drink but
Dan went into his vehicle and brought a bottle of the drink he brought from
home. After a while, his host said we should all go for a boat ride and return
for dinner. He took us to the boat, not knowing that there was no life jacket.
We were eight in the boat — my husband and I, our three children, our host, Mr.
Kailondo and two others. Experienced divers A diver named Michael was also
following us on a Jet Skii, while our host was in charge of the helm.
Before we set out on the calm river, I asked for safety procedure and
life jacket, but was shocked when our host said there were no life jackets but
we were assured that there was no problem and that experienced divers were with
us. It was too late for any of us to get out of the boat because as soon as I
raised the question about life jacket, our host, Mr Kailondo quickly moved the
boat from its moorings.
“While
we were inside, Michael the diver was displaying some acrobatic as he followed
the boat with the jet skii, two other divers were seated at the nose of the
boat. When we got to a point, our host suggested that we should ride into the
high sea. Dan and I rejected the idea. We then stopped, relaxed and were chatting
while Dan was responding to news on the football game going on through his
phone. Music was going on in the boat. Dan was at the back seat.
Our host
took a bottle of whisky, emptied part of it into Dan’s cup, luckily he saw it
and challenged him by asking whether he has forgotten that the cup was his. I
made sure he did not drink from the cup again.
New
twist:
“While
everyone was relaxed, our host was watching my husband and dancing at the same
time. All of a sudden and unexpectedly, he started the engine with very high
speed and made an almost 360 degrees anti-clock wise turn with the boat. While
the children and I fell inside the boat as we lost balance, my husband fell off
the boat into the river. Michael, the diver that was following the boat on jet
Skil was suddenly no longer in sight. Surprisingly, the young men that were
sitting on the nose of the boat did not fall inside the river, which shows they
were expecting such a move. Instead of our host to stop, he rode away for a few
minutes while the children and I were screaming for him to go and get their
father.
He
reluctantly turned the boat to go and meet him, and he put-off the engine
midway.
Struggle
for safety:
“In
the meantime, my husband was swimming towards the boat, while I was fighting
hard to prevent the children from jumping into the river because they wanted to
go and rescue their father. I cried and pleaded with our host to go and
assist my husband while the children were crying. I also pleaded with the two
young men who were sitting on the nose of the boat to throw the rescue rope to
my husband but they refused and suddenly claimed that they could not swim
though our host introduced them at the onsets as divers.
All this
while, Michael the diver who was following the boat was nowhere to be found. I
had to start calling for help with my phone when I saw the way things were
going, I called for help from outside.
Belated
last minute efforts:
“Reluctantly,
our host removed his shirt, jumped into the river, swam and met my husband who
was already swimming towards the boat, held him back to prevent him from
swimming towards the boat by clipping his hands to his body. The
next thing was that he sank into the water with him, stayed under the
water for some time and came out of the water from another side without my
husband.”
The
distraught family members of the deceased further alleged that when questioned
after the lifeless body of the banker was found three days later at the scene
of the incident, their host simply attributed it to witchcraft.
Doubts
over role of Liberian security: Lamenting the manner the case is being
handled by Liberian security operatives, the family spokesperson said;
“These criminals and murderers ought to have been taken into custody instead of
allowing them to roam the streets of Monrovia with impunity.” He also appealed
to Liberian Director of National Police, Mr Clarence Chris
Massquol, who is alleged to be an in-law to the man that hosted the
bereaved family, George Kailondo and the main suspect, not to allow
marital ties to succumb to the pressure that this relationship will exert upon
his office.
Vanguardng
NB: I
smelled rat from the onset….
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