Gang leader of the suspected killers of Anambra billionaire, Mr. Ignatius Odunukwe, 42-year-old Bob Ibeaji has disclosed that they killed the man by hitting him on the head with the butt of an axe.
The late Odunukwe who hailed from Anambra was the owner of Fireman Generators. He was also into property development.
He told newsmen on Tuesday that he and his gang members killed Odunukwe because of “Unnecessary lust for money and my greed for immaterial things.”
Ibeaji, who claimed to be a medical doctor, made this disclosure while being paraded alongside three other members of his gang at the Zone 2 Command, Onikan, in Lagos.
Other members of the gang led by Ibeaji are: Solomon Cletus, 30, Arinze Igwe, 26, and Israel Obigaremu, 35.
The suspect said that in 2019, he saw an advert for the sale of a property at Katampe, Abuja and 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.
According to Ibeaji, he met Cletus when he was remanded at Kuje Prison, Abuja.
READ ALSO: How Billionaire Ignatius Odunukwe Was Killed, Cut To Pieces By Criminals (Video)
He said he discussed the deal with Cletus and secured his promise to help out.
“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.
Cletus on his own part said he was lured into the act with the promise of N2 million loan to be given to him if he participated in the evil act.
Narrating further, Ibeaji said that Igwe, who was a staff of the resort where they killed Odunukwe was the one responsible for ensuring they left the without being seen since he knew the layout of the hotel very well.
Meanwhile, Israel Obigaremu, an Uber driver, said that he didn’t know anything about the plan.
According to him, his only crime was allowing 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 that of a civil commissioner in Bayelsa State, where one Depologa was murdered and his remains found where it was dumped 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.
He cautioned members of 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.
Iliyasu said that the four suspects would be charged to court and would face the full extent of the law.