DETECTIVES attached to the
Criminals Investigation Department (CID) of the Lagos Police Command are
probing the circumstances surrounding the death of a 40-year-old housewife,
Helen Peters, whose lifeless body was found in the house of a young man
identified as Henry Uwadiegwu on January 19, 2015.
The victim was allegedly lured by
Henry to his house on number 36, Fashola Street, Agege, with the intention of
abducting her for ransom. To perfect his plans, Henry allegedly hired some
thugs to tie her up on the excuse that she was insane. He also contacted a
nurse who injected her with an unidentified drug to sedate her for 8 hours.
But the drug ended up killing her.
The suspicious activities going
on in his flat drew the attention of his landlady who stopped him from fleeing
when he discovered that Helen was no longer breathing.
On his arrest, a police source
told Saturday Sun that they got were alerted by a source at the General
Hospital, Ipaja that a young man brought in a dead woman without valid
explanation. Henry was within the hospital vicinity when the Police arrived
there and arrested him.
During interrogation, Henry, 25,
told the Police that the deceased was his sugar mummy for many years. Hear the
Police source: “Henry hatched a plan to extort money from her family and
executed the plan. He deceived neighbors and a nurse to tie Helen up and
inject her with drug that could sedate her for several hours. When they
discovered that she was no longer moving her body, they rushed her to the
hospital where she was confirmed dead.
“To cover his tracks, Henry
registered the deceased with a fake name and address.
Also in order to confirm that he
and Helen were lovers, Henry took us to a hotel where he claimed they normally
hanged out although investigation revealed that he worked in the hotel as a
security man. He also took us to a bar and we discovered that the place is
very close to the deceased in-law’s house and few meters to her family house.
This made it impossible for anyone to believe that story. Meanwhile
investigation is ongoing,” the source told Saturday Sun.
Police investigation further
revealed that before the incident, a school proprietress had narrowly escaped
being kidnapped by Henry some time ago. It was alleged that he invited the
woman from her school at Gowon Estate, Ipaja to his house at Agege to discuss
the modalities for enrolling two of his children in her school. But as God
would have it, the woman failed to show up.
My wife only wanted to help him
-Husband
When Saturday Sun’s
correspondents visited the deceased home at Gowon Estate, where friends and sympathizers
were trooping in to console Helen’s husband, Emmanuel and the immediate
family, the bereaved husband who is also a Zonal Pastor at the Winners Chapel,
explained that his wife was deceived by the suspect into believing that he
was in need.
“My wife was a good woman and her
major weak point was her generosity. Henry was once a security man in the
estate and he was well known to the residents including my family members. Few
weeks before the incident, my wife informed me about her encounter with Henry.
She explained that Henry impregnated a woman and the woman’s family insisted
that he must marry her.
“She said that Henry came to her
shop at Gowon Estate and knelt down begging for assistance and since she was a
woman leader in the church, she wanted to encourage him by supporting the
marriage. I was not comfortable with that story but my wife ensured that I was
okay with the story. Anytime the guy visited her shop, she would tell me.
“Few days to the day of the
incident, my wife came back and in her usual way of keeping me updated, said
that Henry had secured a venue for wedding. She told me that as soon as they
agreed on a date; she would like to go and see the hall to be sure that the
rent was not high. On January 19, she told me that she would go and inspect the
house.
“They agreed to meet at an eatery
in Ipaja, and take off from there. My wife was at the eatery and called me. She
told me that she was waiting for Henry and also used the opportunity to alert
me that her car was faulty. I volunteered to come with another car if that one
could not be managed but she said she would manage it. That was the last time I
heard from her.
“Thereafter, her phones were
switched off. I assumed that her phone battery was down. But when I waited and
did not hear from her, I became alarmed. It was then it occurred to me that the
children were still in school and if they had not returned, then their mother
had not gone to pick them. I rushed out and brought my kids home. I also called
my in-laws and they said that she was not with them.
“I decided to trace Henry through
the family of the girl that he claimed he impregnated. The family members who
I saw were so bitter and threatening to deal with Henry, if he dared come close
to their house. I was alarmed because I had just discovered that there was no
wedding coming up. I managed to get his number and called him asking how he was
preparing for his wedding. He asked me which wedding was I referring to and
switched off his phone. It was already late in the evening. I heard my phone
rang but before I could pick, it rang out. I was excited when I noticed that
the call was from my wife. I did not bother to call back because I assumed that
she was then at home. I got home but discovered that she had not returned. It
was then that I called her number and the person who picked the call said, ‘the
person wey get this phone don die. Come to the police station oh’.
“I was shocked but I composed
myself and called my pastors, family and close friends. It was when we got to
the police station that it dawned on me that my wife was no more. When I
eventually saw her, she had marks around her wrist which showed that she was
tied up. She also had bruises all over her face.
“Henry murdered my wife for her
generosity. It was when the matter came up, that some women in the estate
narrated their experiences. I have been married to her for 15 years and God
blessed us with four children,” Emmanuel said in tears.
Henry’s confession
At the police station, Henry
admitted that he hatched a plan to kidnap Helen but insisted that the execution
of the plan was easy because they were lovers. “Helen was my girlfriend and
she lured me into the relationship. Her provision shop was closer to where I
was working and I used to call her aunty. So, one day she called me and told me
that she would like us to be friends. Initially, I was afraid to do that
because she was a married woman. But when she started buying gifts like clothes
and wrist watches for me, I agreed. She had visited my house three times. At a
point, I decided to kidnap her to raise about N10m to establish a business and
start a new life”, he confessed. Wrist watches for me, I agreed. She
Determined to perfect his plot,
Henry arranged with an auxiliary nurse within the area who could sedate Helen,
so that she would fall sleep. “So, on that day when she told me that she would
visit me, I arranged with a nurse and told her that my brother’s wife was
insane and that I would like her to give her sleep inducing injection, so that
I could tie her up and take her to the village. On that fateful day, Helen
drove to my house and sat in front of my room. In the process, I went and called
four of my neighbors to assist me tie her, so that I could send her to the
village and they did. Thereafter, the nurse came and injected her and she
slept off. I paid her the sum of N1, 500 as agreed. After some time, she could
no longer move her body. So, we put her in her car and drove her to the
General Hospital, Oke Odo. On getting there, they did not want to attend to
us. One of the nurses said that the woman was already dead. It was then I knew
that I had entered into trouble.
“One of the people that followed
me to the hospital escaped and ran to our house to report. I think, it was they
that informed the police for fear of being arrested. Shortly, the police came
and arrested me. I had no intention to kill her. What I needed from her was
money. My intention was to kidnap her, so that her family would raise money for
me. It could be that the injection the nurse gave her was overdose,” he
narrated.
Pleading for mercy, Henry said he
could not explain what led him into the act. “I think there is a bad spirit
that is tormenting me. My parents died when I was 3 and I do not have any one
to lean on. There was a female herbalist in my village that I was working with
and before she died, she told me to continue with the job, but I refused. I do
not know whether it was my refusal that is working against me now. Please help
me invite a pastor to pray for me”, he pleaded.
Henry told Saturday Sun that he
came to Lagos at the age of 15 but had nowhere to stay. So, he went straight to
Iyana Ipaja under bridge. He stayed there for two years before he was able to
get someone to squat with. Thereafter, he left and met the owner of his present
apartment who later moved out and left the place for him.
When asked whether his neighbors
who helped him tie his victim were members of his gang, he denied that they
had hands in the deal; rather he deceived them that the woman was insane and
needed help to tie her and take her to the village.
I heard someone scream, Landlady,
son recount
Expressing gratitude to God that
she noticed the situation on time, the landlady of the house, Cibi Shittu said
that they would have been in trouble if Henry succeeded in fleeing the
compound. “Henry is my tenant and lives at the boys’ quarters. I do not know
much about his activities as he is a quiet tenant that only greets and goes
his way. On that fateful day, I was in the house and heard the voice of a woman
crying for help. Although, I had waist pain, I managed to drag myself out of
the house and walked towards his apartment. I noticed that they were dragging
someone and I called out to Henry who we fondly called Oyibo. He simply told me
not to worry that there was no problem, but I was suspicious because I heard
some screaming.
“Immediately, I called my son
Gafaru to leave whatever he was doing and come to the house and he did in less
than 20 minutes. If not for God, I’m sure that the police would have detained
us for days over the incident”, she maintained.
Corroborating her mom, Gafaru
said when he heard the urgency in his mother’s voice, he ran to their house.
“That day was the first time that I met Henry personally. I knew we had a
tenant called Henry but since I do not live in that compound, I had not met
him personally. As soon as I got to his room, he refused to allow me in but I
was able to observe that a hefty woman was lying on the floor. I also noticed
that he had packed his bags as if he wanted to travel.
“I asked him who she was and he
explained that Helen was his sister who was insane. He claimed that he drugged
her so that they could carry her to the east where a specialist would take care
of her. I demanded that he should take her to the hospital. We took her to the
General Hospital and they confirmed that she was already dead.
“I held unto him, and demanded
that we have to report the matter to the police since the woman was dead. I
searched for him and saw the woman’s phone. I checked her call and the most
recent call was saved as ‘My Husband’. I dialed the number and informed the
person that picked the call that his wife was dead. We alerted the police, who
came and picked him up from the hospital”, Gafaru narrated.
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