Police Witness Tells Court How Suspects Slit Their Cousin’s Throat, Removed His Lever For Money Making Ritual
Kemisola Oye
A Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Nurudeen Gafar has narrated to a Lagos High Court sitting in Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS) how four men allegedly killed their cousin money-making ritual.
The four suspects, Daniel Luka, Isaiah Audu, Wavi David and Ayuba Musa allegedly snuffed the life out of one Isaiah James by stabbing him to death with a knife for a money-making ritual.
The Lagos State government in the suit marked No: LD/10478C/2019, had slammed three counts charge bordering on conspiracy to commit murder, murder and misconduct regarding the body of the deceased.
They were arraigned before Justice Yetunde Adesanya but they all pleaded not guilty to the charge when read to them in the open court.
They were alleged to have committed the offence on 21 May 2018, at Flower Garden, Ajah area of Lagos.
The alleged offence is said to be contrary to the provision of sections 233, 223 and 165(b) of the Criminal Law Ch.C17, Vol 3, Laws of Lagos State, 2015.
Led in evidence by the state counsel, Mr Olayemi Shofolu, DSP Gafar narrated to the court how the defendants unlawfully killed the deceased (Isaiah James), by stabbing him to death with a knife and indecently interfering with the corpse by cutting his stomach, opened and removed his liver.
He said that one Ebenezer who resided in one of the estates close to Ajah, introduced a herbalist (native doctor), Tubosun Shofeso, who lived in Ijebu-Igbo, Ogun State, to defendants for money ritual purposes.
He told the court that Shofeso, who had collected money from the defendants, asked them to get human parts for the ritual. He noted that in the process of getting the human part for the herbalist, the defendants agreed among themselves with the suggestion of the second defendant that they should use his brother.
The second defendant called his cousin on the phone to meet him at Flower Garden in Ajah. “It was their neighbour who saw James when he was rushing out that asked him where he was going because he was ill. He replied the neighbour that his cousin called to meet him at Flower Garden, Okenla at Ajah.
“When the deceased got there, he met the defendants, they all moved to one side of the road where they sell fried yam. So, the fourth defendant said he wanted to eat yam while the first, second and third defendants told the deceased that they wanted to smoke Indian helm. After smoking, they all moved to a swampy area.
“The fourth defendant lynched the deceased, he held him in the throat and sliced him. When others saw that the deceased has no strength, they rushed to join him.
“While the fourth defendant was still holding the throat, the second defendant held the deceased two legs and the third defendant held and cut him by the side of the hand to remove his liver.
“After bringing out the liver, they said that is not the liver. The third defendant held his hand and noticed that the heart was pumping. They now cut the heart and put it inside a nylon.
“They hid the items and took same to Ijebu-Igbo to meet the herbalist that asked them to bring the items for a money ritual. All these happened at night.
“When they did not see the deceased the following day, a neighbour who knew the deceased movement explained to the deceased elder brother (Mike) that he left to meet his cousin that called him on the phone. They began to search for the second defendant who had already gone to Ijebu-Igbo.
“As the search continued, someone notified the deceased elder brother that he saw a lifeless body at Erinle, Ajah. When they got there, he found out that it was that of his junior brother. They thereafter went to Police Station in Ajah to report.”
The prosecution witness, who was the Investigating Police Officer (IPO), told the court that, the deceased body was evacuated and deposited in the mortuary. It was later that the second defendant appeared that he was taken to Ajah Police Station where he told them the truth and mentioned other defendants.
“First, third and fourth defendants were arrested and they volunteered statements in the presence of a lawyer from State CID. They all confessed and mention Ebenezer as their intermediary to the herbalist.”
“The police went to hunt for Ebenezer who they said is a bricklayer. They confess how they sent money to herbalist through Ebenezer’s account using POS in the area. Gafar said, “I and my team members went to Ajah to meet the POS woman. We discovered that Ebenezer collected 40,000 from them and sent 20,000 to the herbalist.
“We got the account details of the herbalist and we were able to trace him to Ijebu-Igbo where he was arrested at the bank when he wanted to withdraw the money sent to his account to lure him.”
The IPO further narrated to the court that Tubosun tried to escape from the officers guiding the bank that held him because they had placed restrictions on the account following an order of the court.
“The police placed on Tubosun’s account, Post No Debit (PND). When he went there to withdraw, they called us and we told them to arrest him. We were on our way to Ijebu-Igbo, we are already at Sagamu when we received a call that he has escaped. The mobile man said he pursued him and shot him.
“I told him to take him to a nearby hospital, and that I will pay the bill. When I got to the hospital, I met the doctor who said he has lost a lot of blood. I requested for statement form, and he made a statement and admitted knowing the four defendants, that they were brought to him by one Ebenezer but he does not know where they live but knew he lives in Lagos.”
The police officer told the court that Tubosun said he did not have the secret of the money ritual the defendants came for, that he had to consult with another herbalist. So he requested for more officers at the Ijebu-Igbo division to search for the other herbalist.
“While we are searching, the doctor called that Tubosun had died. We couldn’t continue the search for the other herbalist because we don’t know him. So I collected all documents and brought the body and put him in Mainland Mortuary in Lagos. All necessary Coroner Form was filed and served the Chief Pathologist in the hospital. We also filled the form for James Isaiah, the deceased.”
He added that it was during the investigation that the police discovered that the second, third and fourth defendants are from Chibok Local Government in Borno State.
“They are all cousins looking for quick money. They opted out to use their cousin for rituals. Tubosun was the herbalist that prepared the concoction they prepared for the deceased that made him sick on 21 May before he was lured.
“They poisoned him. The defendants played a significant role in killing the deceased. It was well planned. Their case file was sent to the legal department before they were charged to court.”
When the prosecution sought to tender the defendants’ statements, their counsel objected that the statement was taken under duress. According to him, “It is our contention that the statements were made involuntarily. It was made under duress and torture”.
The court subsequently adjourned till 26 and 27 September 2023 for the continuation of the trial.
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