The family of late Alexander Uzoma has demanded justice for their brother’s alleged murder in Abeokuta, the capital of Ogun State, by some suspected online scammers known as Yahoo-boys.
Abimbola Oyeyemi, the Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, detained four young men last week after they acknowledged that they dumped the 20-year-old boy’s body on Kuto Bridge in Abeokuta on November 20.
According to a statement made by Oyeyemi, Alexander, a 300-Level student at Imo State University, came to them to study online fraud before taking a chemical known as Colorado and dying.
The Business Administration student’s older brother, however, denied alerting the police that their brother went out to visit a friend, claiming that he left home to watch a football match at a viewing center near Adigbe, Abeokuta, since he is a Manchester United fan.
One of the siblings, Jude Uzoma, told newsmen that he could not fathom how the police came about telling the public that his brother went to see his friends.
“I was the one who wrote the statement when we got to Adigbe police station with our mother. We didn’t tell them he went to see any friend. We said he went to watch football. Where did the police get that information from?” Jude asked.
The young man revealed how he and his mother visited Ibara, Obada, Lafenwa and about 15 police stations, including the State police headquarters, Eleweran, in search of the missing boy, whose phone he said kept ringing out.
After several failed efforts to locate Alexander within two days, Jude stated that the Association of Imo Indigenes in Abeokuta was informed, adding that the effort of the association brought about the transfer of the case to the police headquarters.
Also, the immediate elder brother of the deceased, Augustine Uzoma said the police had informed them that his late brother was in contact with one of the said Yahoo-boys, who called him on phone.
“He was in contact with only one of them, we don’t know how the other three came into the picture. According to what the suspects told the police, they said he followed them to their house; they ate, took Colorado, slept and woke up around 8pm. When they woke up, they found out that he had vomited all over his body and died.
“We further made our own investigation and discovered that those guys live at Lipede Estate. The police told us that they tracked my brother’s phone to know his movement. As at 3:36 pm on that November 20, they said the person called him and they went to a bar at Onikoko.
“The police also told us that at about 6:20pm, his phone was tracked to another place at Onikolobo, and that was where the tracking ended.
“If those guys are claiming he died in their house, his phone should be tracked to Lipede Estate. The tracking was supposed to end at Lipede, not Onikolobo,” Augustine said.
Augustine recalled how the police said a Uber driver’s car was borrowed to convey Alexander’s body to where it was dumped, saying “we didn’t hear that the police have invited the owner of the car for questioning or that the car has been impounded as part of evidence.”
He added that the police might be engaging in a “foul play” in the way the case was being handled.
“We want justice. Those guys killed my brother in cold blood for whatever reason. We demand that the case should be properly investigated. Those guys should face the law.
“My brother was never a drinker or smoker. He didn’t take anything like drugs. He couldn’t have taken Colorado. He was never into internet fraud. He didn’t contact them to learn Yahoo-yahoo.
“The police have told us to look for N200,000 to exhume the corpse and conduct an autopsy. The health workers who buried the corpse said they saw a deep cut on his head. We have every reason to believe that he was killed.
“Within this week, we will raise the N200,000 for the autopsy. All we want is that everybody should respect the dead by ensuring justice is served. Those who committed this crime should not use money to escape judgement. The police should do their work diligently,” Augustine pleaded.
He revealed that their distraught widowed mother, Christiana Uzoma, who is the Headteacher of St. Peter’s Anglican Primary School, Ilogbo-Olofin, Ogun State, is currently with other family members in Imo State, grieving over the unfortunate death of her last born.