Man murdered in Festac few days after winning Lottery

A 35-year-old man, Ejike Onyejekwe, has been
killed in the FESTAC Town area of Lagos State

The victim, who lived on
21 Road, K Close, FESTAC, was stabbed to death
after winning a lot of money from a lottery.

Onyejekwe, to celebrate the winning, bought drinks
for his friends and threw a party last Thursday and
Friday.
It was learnt that on Friday evening, he was heard
arguing with an unidentified person on the phone.

He allegedly told his friend he was going to see
the man, but never returned.
His corpse was allegedly discovered the next day
on one of the estates.

A resident, who did not want to be identified, said
the chairman of the estate called the attention of
residents to the corpse on Saturday.

He said,
“I was sipping tea around 7am when I heard the
chairman blowing a whistle. I thought it was
strange, but my wife called my attention to the
surging crowd on the estate.
“I went downstairs and saw the corpse on the
road. Like everybody, I was alarmed.
We could not
tell how the corpse got there or who he was. He
had multiple stab injuries in the head. We all
resolved that the case should be reported at the
FESTAC Police Station.”

It was learnt that some of the victim’s friends later
identified him.
The corpse was said to have been deposited in a
morgue, while the police arrested and detained the
chairman of the estate and his secretary; they were
later released.

A source said that the victim won a
lottery few days to his death.
He said,
“The man won a lot of money in a lottery and from
last Thursday to Friday, he was asking his friends
to drink at his expense.

“He was called on the phone that Friday evening
and he went to meet a man. I suspect that a gang
stabbed him and used an object to hit him in the
head. There were bruises on his knees and it
appeared they dragged him on the floor as well.
“When the police were removing his corpse, blood
was dripping from his mouth and nostrils. He was
murdered in cold blood.”

A friend of the victim, who did not identify himself,
said his relative had visited the community.
“I can’t say why he was killed. Nobody knows. He
just returned from a visit to the village,” he added.

The Police Public Relations Officer, SP Dolapo
Badmos, confirmed the incident, adding that the
case had been transferred to the State Criminal
Investigation and Intelligence Department, Yaba.
She added that the police had already arrested two
suspects in connection with the death.

She said,
“The chairman of one of the estates reported that at
about 7am, he woke up and saw the victim lying
lifeless with injuries on his head and body. The
corpse was deposited at the Isolo General Hospital
Mortuary for autopsy. Two suspects, Suleiman
Ahmed and Ibrahim Yusuf, were arrested and the
case transferred to the SCIID for further
investigation.”