MAN KILLS LOVER BOY OVER AFFAIR WITH DAUGHTER IN CALABAR; CONNIVE WITH DPO TO BURY HIM WITHOUT HIS FAMILY CONSENT

A man, Godwin Elewana, has been accused of killing a 22-year-old youth, Douglas Ojugbo, for allegedly having an affair with his daughter.

Neighbours said Elewana, who lives in the Cross River Basin Development Authority, Eight Miles area of Calabar, Cross River State, had warned Douglas to stop coming to his house to see his daughter.

It was learnt that Elewena could no longer hold his anger on March 10 when he pursued the boy from his house and allegedly shot him to death.

It was gathered that Elewana first shot Douglas in the arm, and later gave him another shot in the leg.

Neighbours told our correspondent that he subsequently bundled the lover boy into his car and drove him to the Federal Housing Police Station. It was learnt that the youth died on the way to the station.

Residents of the area said policemen at the station allegedly hastened Douglas’ burial at the Goldie Cemetery to cover up the crime. But the Divisional Police Officer in charge of the station, Mr. Mike Ezenwenrem, said the allegation was false.

One of the neighbours, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said, “The girl’s father had warned the youth not to come near the daughter again, but the two of them ignored the warning. I think that was why the man decided to take that horrible action.

“On that fateful day, we saw the man running after the lover boy. When the man caught up with him around the basin authority gate, he shot him. After shooting him, he dragged him into his car and drove off.”

It was gathered that the parents of the deceased got the information about their son two days later and immediately went to the Federal Housing Police Station, on getting to the police station, the bereaved parents were told that their son was dead and had been buried without their consent.

It was alleged that the DPO coerced the father into signing an undertaking not make any complaint to any authority whatsoever.

But the bereaved father, Mr. Augustine Ojugbo, who is also a lawyer with Kanu G. Agabi & Associates, said he had ignored the DPO and had petitioned the Assistant Inspector General of Police, Zone 6, Calabar, and the National Human Rights Commission to investigate the cause of his son’s death and bring those who killed him to justice.

In the petition, Ojugbo said his son was not having any romantic relationship with Elewana’s daughter.

He explained that Douglas had sold his mini laptop to Elewana’s daughter, who made part payment, adding that it was the balance the son went to collect when he met his untimely death.

He said, “My son is 22 years old. Sometime this year, he sold his mini laptop to the daughter of Mr. Elewana Godwin. Elewana’s daughter name is unknown to me at the moment. But she made a part payment of the agreed sum, leaving the balance.

“My son, in a bid to collect or recover the balance of his money, had been visiting the lady at home and he ran into Elewana on his previous visits. Elewana, not pleased with the boy’s presence, demanded to know what he was doing in his house. My son explained to Elewana of his transaction with his daughter. Elewana, without any effort to verify the boy’s story, asked him to leave his house and warned him never to visit his house again.

“My son was about leaving when Elewana’s daughter cornered him and asked him to come on March 10 to collect the balance of his money. On that faithful day, my son went to Elewana’s house, hoping to see the daughter as agreed, but unfortunately he saw Mr. Elewana.

“Elewana, upon sighting Douglas, ran into his room and fetched his gun. My son took to his heels to save his life. However, Elewana pursued him until he caught up with him at the gate of Basin Authority, and he shot my son first on the leg as a result of which Douglas fell down. To accomplish his goal, Elewana shot him the second time on the arm.

“Elewana still bundled Douglas into his car and took him to the Divisional Police Officer of the Federal Housing Police station. The DPO conspired with Elewana to get rid of Douglas’ corpse.”

Douglas’ mother, Mrs. Maria Ojugbo, who is a Director in the Department of Fishery, Ministry of Agriculture, corroborated her husband’s claim when she said the family did not know about the death until March 12 when his body was exhumed from a grave in Goldie Cemetery.”

But the DPO said he never knew Elewana until the corpse of Douglas was brought to his station as an unidentified suspected armed robber.

Ezenwenrem told our correspondent that Douglas was brought in by the station’s patrol team that got a distress call.

He said, “I got a call from one of my patrol officers, who said an armed robbery suspect was being brought in. I called the control unit, informing them that a suspect was apprehended at the Basin Authority area. When the patrol came, I saw somebody at the back of the pickup and they brought him down.

“They brought some iron rods and one locally-made pistol, saying an angry mob nabbed the robber. Elewana was there with the mob. He (Elewana) said he was in his compound, when he heard his dog barking and that when he checked, he saw someone rushing out from the sitting room of the other flat.

“He said the suspect (Douglas) threatened him with the machete he was holding, but he (Elewana) said he retreated to his flat and brought out his double-barrelled gun and shot the suspect. He said after the shooting, the suspect still managed to scale the fence, but the people around pursued him, brought him down and beat him up.

“I sought to know the boy’s identity, but nobody knew him. I then told my men to take the statement from Elewana who acted in self-defence. The corpse was unidentified and besides I could not raise N35,000 to take him to the mortuary, so I called health workers in the state to take him away.

“I don’t know anything about this issue of girlfriend and boyfriend. The man said the boy came to rob in one of his flats and later threatened him. So, it was a case of robbery.

“People should not face the police, they should face the man who shot him. The man is not on the run.”

When asked why the police buried the corpse in a hurry, the DPO said, “Where do you expect me to keep the corpse when I did not have the financial power to send the body to mortuary?

“We have health authority that could be called upon anytime to dispose unidentified corpse.

“Where they could have faulted me is if someone had come to identify the corpse and I still went to the health authority to bury the corpse. We normally call them to come and dispose corpses, especially unidentified ones. At every point in this whole issue, I communicated with the Commissioner of Police and also sent signals. I did not follow the health authorities to where they took the corpse to..”

When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Hogan Bassey, declined comment on the matter but we heard that the police in Zone Six had commenced action on the matter by arresting Elewana.

culled from 'PUNCH'