The trial of Benjamin Best Nnayereugo also known as “Killaboi, the Nigerian punter charged with k!lling of his girlfriend, Augusta Onuwabhagbe, commenced today March 4 at the Lagos High Court in Igbosere, Lagos island.
Channels TV reports that the first prosecution witness, an Uncle to the late Augusta, Mr. Reginald Okonye took the witness stand to narrate how the family discovered her body at the boyfriend’s house in the Ajah area of Lagos.
Led in evidence by the Lagos State Director of Public Prosecution, DPP, Dr. Babajide Martins, the witness told trial judge, Justice Ibironke Harrison that for two to three days in July 2023, Augusta would respond to messages from her mother and brother but refused to pick up the phone when called. He told the court that this made them suspicious and worried and through the help of her roommate at the Lead City University, Ibadan, the family was able to trace her to the boyfriend’s house in Ajah, Lagos.
”My name is Reginald Okonye. I am Regional Head of Sales, West and Central Africa for Siemens Energy. The deceased is my niece and her mother is my eldest sister.
I met the defendant once before my niece, Augusta Onuwabhagbe passed but really couldn’t recognise him, but after her de@th, his picture was all over the media so I recognise him now.
He once came to church with Augusta because her mother runs a church, but I saw him from afar. But on this faithful Saturday, July 15, 2024, Augusta’s mom came to my place and said for 2-3 days, She had not been able to speak to her daughter who usually calls her every morning.
She said they had been chatting on WhatsApp because when she sends messages, Augusta responds but when she calls, Augusta never picks.
Augusta’s brother had also expressed worry that he had not been able to reach her for 3 days. He insisted that the mother had to go look for her as he had a premonition that all was not well” he said
The witness went on to narrate how the family visited the Ajah home of Augusta’s boyfriend where they eventually discovered her lifeless body.
“My sister said her daughter had a roommate, in Lead City University, Ibadan, Oyindamola who was quite close to Augusta. After establishing contact with Oyindamola, the two agreed that Augusta’s circle is very small and they needed to check her at her boyfriend, Benjamin’s place.
Oyindamola confirmed that she knew the address and also said the place was in a gated estate and except someone from the house calls, Augusta’s mom would not be allowed access.
The mom then discussed with a friend to get a security personnel to accompany her so she could gain access. I drove to Ikeja Cantonment to pick the military man and another woman, Mrs Bankole who is a family friend. We then went to pick Oyindamola in Yaba cos she knows Benjamin’s house before the 5 of us proceeded to Oral Estate, Ajah.
As expected, we were not allowed access and after the military man persuaded them, they agreed but asked one of their security guards at the gate to go with us. We were able to locate the place, 24a, Abiola Akpoyin Street, Oral Estate, Ikota, Ajah, Lagos.
The gate was slightly open so the security man and the military men proceeded to enter. We sighted Augusta’s car outside the house. The key to the car was placed on top of the bonnet. My sister and the 2 other ladies were screaming Augusta’s name to see if she would come out but she didn’t,” he added.
Speaking further, the witness said
“The building is a semi-attached duplex and the window to one of the rooms upstairs was open but no one answered. The estate security advised that we go to Ajah police station to make a statement so they could come with us to search the house as we couldn’t enter the house without a warrant.
So I drove to Ajah police station and after explaining, they released 2 police officers, one inspector Odun a female and another male who was armed to go with us.
The officers tried to open the door but it was locked. They then advised we get a ladder so we could access the building through the open window. Luckily there were some young men outside the area who helped us rent a ladder. It was about 8pm and it was getting late.
Reginald further explained that he recognised the body of the deceased despite being a bit swollen.
“The police man advised I climbed first so he could position himself incase anyone attacked. I did and he followed after. Using the torch on my phone, I peeped into the room and saw the corpse, lying in a thick pool of blood. I then signalled the policeman from Ajah to come up. He got up and I showed him the body.
Even though the body was a bit bloated, I recognized her. I made a decision not to scream so as not to agitate my sister and when I came down, I tried to distract her to leave the area. I subsequently told Inspector Odun what we found. This was around 9pm.
She told me we had to evacuate the body, deposit it in the morgue and I asked for the amount and paid. How they subsequently broke the door open and concluded the process, I don’t know,” he said.
I told my sister it was late and we need to go back home so we could continue the search the next day. I was just trying to manage her. I then drove my sister, Oyindamola and Mrs Bankole back. My sister stays alone in Maryland because her children are all in school so I took her back to my house which is around Egbeda.
About 2am, the police in Ajah confirmed to me that the body had been evacuated and deposited in the morgue.
On July 16th, the next day being Sunday, i called 2 of her friends, Mrs Bankole and one other person and asked them to come to my house. After they came, I disclosed the news to her.
On Monday, we went back to Ajah and I was asked to write a statement and then told the case would be transferred to Panti. My sister is quite active on social media so she showed me that she was engaging with Oyindamola who told her that she follows Benjamin who was online confessing (on Instagram or so) that he killed his girlfriend after they had a quarrel. The police copied the posts and within a short time too, the posts went very viral.
At Panti, they took statements from my sister and I and gave us another IPO and eventually I led the police from Panti back to the house,” he concluded.
After this testimony, the DPP then moved to tender in evidence a picture of the body and another picture of the house in Ajah.
The Defence counsel, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Marcel Oru, elected to reserve all objections at this stage of the trial.
With no objections from the Defence Counsel, the court admitted the pictures in evidence as exhibits before adjourning proceedings.
Outside the court room, correctional officers from the Kirikiri Maximum Correctional Centre aided the defendant to evade the watchful cameras of journalists ensuring that they could not capture his visuals when he departed the courtroom.
Justice Harrison adjourned hearing till Thursday March 5th for continuation of trial. The late Augusta’s mother is expected to take the witness stand to testify.
