A 30-year-old man, Efe Onoitiyi, a.k.a Efe Money has been paraded for kidnapping and killing his friend, Paulinus Okon, the owner of Easy Boutique in Otokutu, Ughelli South Local Government Area of the state.
He has now been paraded by the The Delta Police Command.
The Divisional Police Officer in Ekpan Division, Uvwie Local Government Area, Aliyu Shaba led a team of policemen to arrest Efe and a herbalist, Lawrence Joseph, said to be the chief priest of Otokutu, over the gruesome m8rder of Paulinus.
The police team also recovered the head of the victim from the shrine of the chief priest where it was buried.
It was further gathered that Efe lured his friend to a shrine where they beheaded him before dumping his remains in the river.
Reports had it that when the suspects learnt that the deceased’s body was seen floating in the river three days later, they went and retrieved it.
They removed all his intestines, tied some hard blocks to the body and threw it back into the river where it sank.
They also drove the deceased car to Otu-Jeremi road and abandoned it there to make it appear like a kidnap case.
Efe informed Paulinus’s family that he was kidnapped and he collected a ransom of N20,215,000 from the deceased’s brother, claiming that he was in touch with the kidnappers.
The State Commissioner of Police, CP Abaniwonda Olufemi, paraded the suspect alongside three other accomplices, including a herbalist the chief priest of Otokutu, during a press briefing at the command headquarters in Asaba on Monday, December 23, 2024.
According to the CP, Efe confessed to k!lling Paulinus over his failure to buy a property for the victim after receiving the sum of N30m from him.
Efe said he saw a building for sale at a cost of thirty million naira (N30,000,000) which he advertised to Paulinus and the deceased paid him N30m in three instalments to buy the property.
However, instead of buying the house, he diverted the money for his personal use, bought two lands and was building a duplex for himself.
He further stated that he did not know how to explain to the deceased that he had used his money hence he decided that k!lling him will save him the trouble.
“Ladies and gentlemen of the press, I welcome you to this press briefing which is particularly painful. It involves the murder of one Paulinus Okon ‘m’ by his bosom friend, one Efe Onoetiyi,” the CP stated.
“Paulinus was reported missing on 8/9/2024 by his brother after he went out with his friend Efe Onoitiyi ‘m’ age 30yrs.
“The suspect Efe Onoitiyi who initially denied knowing what happened to Paulinus came to Paulinus’s house to ask his family of Paulinus, he was confronted that the deceased went out with him on that same date which he denied that the deceased did not go out with him.
“On a later date, Efe came back and demanded Five Hundred Thousand Naira (#500,000) from the deceased’s brother that he would use the money to pay a herbalist who can tell them Paulinus’s whereabouts.
“Efe again came and informed the family that Paulinus was kidnapped and he collected a ransom of about twenty million, seven hundred and fifteen thousand naira (#20,715,000) from the deceased brother claiming that he was in touch with the kidnappers.
“When it became obvious that Efe had something to hide, he was arrested and the case was transferred to State Criminal Investigation Department State Headquarters Asaba.
“On 28th November 2024, I directed the DPO Ekpan to take over the case and ensure that a discrete investigation is carried out to fish out those responsible as the main suspect Efe was not yielding.
“The DPO Ekpan carried out an intelligence led investigation that indicted one Okeimute Gaga ‘m’ aged 48yrs old. Okeimute gaga upon his arrest opened up and confessed that he can no longer hide what happened.
“Okeimute Gaga narrated how Efe brought Paulinus to Orere River in Otokutu and requested that they kill him.
“The suspect further stated that on the 8th of September 2024 himself, Efe and Sunday Ikpeba, and a 30yrs old herbalist known as Lawrence Joseph tied Paulinus Okon to a stake at night close to Orere River and beheaded him alive.
“His body was thrown into the River while the herbalist took the head of Paulinus and buried him at his shrine in Otokutu.
“The DPO Ekpan Police station led police operatives to the shrine in Otokutu where the skull of Paulinus was exhumed and recovered.
“During interrogation, Efe was asked why he killed his friend Paulinus, Efe stated that he saw a building for sale at a cost of thirty million naira (#30,000,000) which he advertised to the deceased and the deceased paid him Thirty Million Naira (#30,000,000) in three instalments, but instead of buying the house, he diverted the money for his personal use, bought two lands and was building a duplex for himself.
“He further stated that he did not know how to explain to the deceased that he had used his money hence he decided that killing me will save him the trouble. Efe and the three other suspects are in custody.”
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