Bob Ibeaji, 42, the kingpin of a four-man gang that killed Ignatius Odunukwe said on Tuesday that the lust for money led him to commit the murder.
Odunukwe was a renowned billionaire from Anambra who was into property development and the owner of Fireman Generators.
He was last seen when he went to seal a land deal with his murderers who posed as real estate buyers interested in one of his properties.
His lawyers suggested going with him to sign the papers but he declined, explaining that he also had to stop by at a club before meeting the land buyers.
His decomposing body was found on Thursday, January 16, 2020, after his murderers were caught and they led police to the location where they dumped the body.
However, while speaking to newsmen during the parade of suspects at the Zone 2 Command, Onikan, in Lagos, Ibeaji, who claimed to be a medical doctor said, “Unnecessary lust for money and my greed for immaterial things clouded my judgement and made me commit the crime.
Narrating how he lured Odunukwe to his death, Ibeaji said that in 2019, he saw an advert for the sale of a property at Katampe, Abuja.
He added that he approached the security who linked him up with the deceased through his cell phone number.
“I told him I was interested in the property and I think he ( the deceased) had a function in Abuja at that time so we were able to meet once in the city.
“We later met again at Atican Beach Resort, Ajah in Lagos State, on Dec. 1, 2019, where we discussed after which I murdered him with the help of two of my gang members,” he said.
The four-man gang includes Bob Ibeaji, 42, Solomon Cletus, 30, Arinze Igwe, 26, and Israel Obigaremu, 35.
Ibeaji said that he met Cletus when he was remanded at Kuje Prison, Abuja and discussed the dealings with him which he promised to help out with.
“I lured Odunukwe into my hotel room through N900million business deal I was pretending to go along with.
“With the help of Igwe and Cletus, I was able to distract him and hit him on the head using the butt of an axe.
“After then, I injected him twice with shots from a lethal injection. His body was later cut into pieces and dumped somewhere at Ogunbo Forest, in Ajah,” he said.
The suspects took turns to confirm that the body in the bag belongs to the missing businessman.
Cletus whom he met at the prison said that he was lured into the act with the promise of N2 million loan to be given to him if he would participate in the evil plan.
Ibeaji said that Igwe, who was a staff member of the resort was the one responsible for navigating the culprits’ successful exit from the hotel because of his knowledge of its layout.
However, Israel Obigaremu, the Uber driver, said that he knew nothing about the evil plan and was unfortunately involved because he allowed Arinze to park the deceased car in his compound.
He said that Arinze usually called him for jobs of transporting his clients that lodged in the hotel and that was how he met with Ibeaji whom he drove around town.
“Arinze brought the victim’s car to my compound and told me that the car belonged to his boss who had travelled and he promised to come pick it up the next day.
“I do not know anything about the killing. I was home sleeping when Arinze brought the vehicle to be parked in my compound,” Obigaremu said.
The Assistant Inspector-General of Police, AIG Ahmed Iliyasu of Zone 2 Command, Onikan, told journalists during the parade that two similar incidents had been established against Ibeaji in the past.
“The first was in Bayelsa State, where one Depologa was murdered and his remains were found along the Abuja Expressway.
“The second is the case of Jude Efulue, a property developer in Abuja, whom he held captive in an apartment and forced him to sign a document transferring the ownership of the victim’s property to him.
“He almost killed Efulue but the intervention of Efulue’s neighbour led to Ibeaji’s apprehension by the police which landed him in Kuje Prison,” the AIG said.
Iliyasu advised the public to be careful about what they post online and desist from revealing too much information about themselves on social media.
“There is a sophisticated dimension that has been introduced into cybercrime and the only way out is to abstain from flaunting one’s achievements and wealth on the social media,” he said.
The AIG said that Zone 2 Command which comprises of Lagos State and Ogun had no space for hoodlums to incubate and hibernate.
He, therefore, warned criminals to desist from their nefarious activities.
Iliyasu said that the four suspects would be charged to court and would face the full extent of the law.
The police evacuated the remains of the deceased into Braingrace Ambulance evacuated so as to give the deceased a befitting burial.
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