Evil: How A Man Strangles A Boy To Death And Demands N5 Million From The Grieving Mother

A man, who was arrested on suspicion of murder and extortion of money on May 15, yesterday appeared in an Ikeja High Court, 26 June.

According to the mother of the deceased, Mrs Idayat Erikitola, her neighbour, Patrick Onyeka, lured her eight-year-old boy into his residence and strangled him to death. It was gathered that Onyeka and his elder brother live on the same street with Mrs Erikitola the at Plot 14, 3rd Ave., Mulmaco Estate, Ikotun, Lagos, sharing the same fence with her.

The incident occurred on Jan.12, 2013 when the woman went shopping, leaving her youngest child, Ayuba, home alone. When the mother of four came back she could not find the boy, she raised an alarm and all the neighbours, including Onyeka and his brother’s wife, took part in the search for the boy. Unluckily, the search ended with no result. After a while one of her sons discovered a note stuck on their gate, which was addressed to Alhaji (her husband) demanding for a N5 million ransom. The grieving parents showed the note to the neighbours hoping that somebody would recognize the handwriting but all their attempts to find the kidnapper on their own failed.

The next morning, a young girl living in the Onyeka’s house saw the woman and quickly ran inside. The woman was surprised with such a behavior and got suspicious, she along with her husband went to the police station and told about their assumptions.

Very early the next day, a neighbour called her husband to come to the defendant’s compound where the elder brother of the defendant confirmed the information about the ransom note composed by Onyeka. The matter was reported to the police and he was taken to the police station for further interrogation.
“By the time he took them to where he kept the corpse inside a sack, the police did not allow me to go there and so, I never saw my little boy again,” Erikitola said.

Onyeka was arraigned on May 15 by the Lagos State Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) on a charge of murder. The case was adjourned till June 27 for continuation of trial.