By Chinagorom Ugwu

A Nigerian man has allegedly murdered his friend in Delta State, south-south Nigeria.

The prime suspect, Efe Onoetiyi, allegedly hired assassins to murder the victim, Paulinus Okon.

The police spokesperson in Delta State, Bright Edafe, disclosed this while parading the suspects at the police headquarters in the state.

Mr Edafe, a superintendent of police, uploaded on his X handle on Monday a video clip showing the suspects during the parade.

He said the incident occurred at Otokutu, a community in Ughelli South Local Government Area of the South-southern state, but did not indicate the exact period the incident happened.

How it happened

The police spokesperson said the prime suspect, Mr Onoetiyi, in September, contacted his friend, Mr Okon and informed him of a building on sale which was valued at N30 million.

He said Mr Okon expressed interest and gave him N30 million to purchase the building based on the agreement that he (Onoetiyi) would buy the building for him (Mr Okon).

“Instead of Efe (Onoetiyi) buying the property, he diverted the money and used it to buy his own house and also bought two other lands.

“When it got time for Efe to show Paulinus the property he bought for him, he (Efe) didn’t know what to do. He became confused and didn’t know how to explain it to Paulinus. So, he decided to kill,” Mr Edafe narrated.

The spokesperson said Mr Onoetiyi first contacted a man to kill Mr Okon with a promise to pay him N450,000 but the man declined.

He said Mr Onoetiyi consequently contacted three other men – Okeimute Gaga, Sunday Ikpeba and Lawrence Joseph, a herbalist – to kill the victim.

The murder

Mr Edafe said when Messrs Gaga and Ikpeba indicated they were ready to kill the victim, Mr Onoetiyi allegedly tricked Mr Okon to accompany him to a party.

He said immediately Mr Onoetiyi and Mr Okon arrived at the scene where they had planned to kill the victim, Messrs Gaga and Ikpeba grabbed him and tied him to a stick.

“While he was alive, they used a machete and cut off his head. They tied his body in a bag and threw it into Orere River and carried the head to the shrine that belongs to the herbalist here,” he said.

“His (Mr Okon’s) head was buried at the shrine.”

The clip showed a decayed skull, believed to be that of the slain Mr Okon, being exhumed in front of a shrine.

Mr Edafe, during the parade, asked Mr Onoetiyi why he murdered his friend.

“I don’t know how I will explain it,” he responded in Pidgin English.

Ransom after murder

Mr Edafe said after killing Mr Okon, Mr Onoetiyi collected N20.7 million ransom from Mr Okon’s family after lying to them that he had been kidnapped.

The police spokesperson said all the arrested suspects would be prosecuted.

He warned Nigerians to be cautious of the friends they keep.

“We should be very careful about our associations and wherever we are going. Paulinus just died because he trusted a friend,” he said.

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