 |
| Ogbeche |
Ogbeche explained that he collected N100,000 out of the N1m paid as ransom for his boss' releases.
The 35-year old Ogbeche who hails from Bewarre village in Ogoja Local Government Area of Cross River State told City Round that he knew about the kidnap of the ex-commissioner but did not know about his murder
Ogbeche worked as a labourer on Ediagbonya’s palm tree farm at Utese village, Okada area of Edo State.
Reports say the ex-commissioner was reportedly kidnapped on May 16 and his decomposing body was discovered in a bush close to his farm 19 days after.
Following his murder, men of the Inspector -General of Police Intelligence Response Team launched a manhunt for the perpetrators, which led to Ogbeche's arrest early July.
Reports say Ogbeche conspired with one Paul and other accomplices at large to perpetrate the crime.
Police investigation revealed that the kidnappers had on May 3 , sent a threat message to the deceased , announcing their intention to abduct him and daring him to involve security agencies.
They made good their threat 13 days after when they ambushed him on his farm and demanded a ransom . After collecting N 1 m , they were said to have informed his family to pick up his corpse at a location.
According to the police, “The kidnappers used the deceased's mobile to demand a ransom and collected N 1 m . They later sent a text message to the family , asking them to pick his corpse somewhere . It took the family few days to locate the corpse in the bush.
“Through intelligence - led investigation, Andrew Ogbeche , was arrested . He is the deceased ’ s former worker on his palm tree farm at Utese. The phone he used in sending threat messages to the deceased was recovered from him . Investigation is ongoing to arrest other suspects involved in the kidnapping and murder".
Ogbeche stated that after the news of Ediagbonya’s death broke in the community, he tried to reach Paul on the phone to no avail .
He said “Since I graduated from university , I have been having financial constraints . I used to work with the commissioner as a labourer on his palm tree farm and he paid me N 10 , 000 per month.
“ I used to clear the bush and help to pluck palm fruits . I worked with him for two months but he paid me only for one month . He promised to pay me later . While I was working for him , I had no plan to kidnap him . It was my friend , Paul , who visited me on the farm that brought the idea of kidnapping him.
“He told me my boss had a lot of money . I warned him not to try it . He kept visiting and threatened to kill me if I expose his secret . While he was visiting me on the farm, Paul had told my boss that he wanted to work with him . He became close to him and he trusted him . ”
The suspect who claimed to be the only child of his mother, said he consented to the crime for fear of throwing his mum into mourning.
“The day they kidnapped the man, Paul told me and I was scared . He gave me N 100 , 000 but that time , I never knew they had killed him . It was later I saw one of my friends who told me that my boss is dead . I was devastated . I felt bad and I regret collecting the money".
0 Comments