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Two suspects arrested in connection with the death of
Cynthia Osokogu, who was killed by her social media friends, have denied
involvement in the crime.
The suspects, Gideon Okechukwu and Nonso Ezike, were
arrested by the police on September 3.
Altogether, six suspects have been arrested in connection
with the murder, with four of them already arraigned at the Yaba Magistrate
Court.
Two of the arraigned suspects, Nwabufor Okwumo and
Chidiebere Ezike, had earlier confessed to being principal actors in the crime.
They told the police and journalists that they lured
the deceased to a Festac Town Hotel room in Lagos, via the social media, where
they drugged, assaulted and killed her.
Both suspects also confessed that there had been about
four other victims, who were not killed.
Our hands are clean
Gideon, alleged to be Okwumo's driver, and Nonso,
Chidiebere's brother, however, denied any involvement in the death of the
Nasarawa State University English graduate.
Gideon and Nonso's arrests came after the police
recovered the deceased's mobile phone, a white Blackberry Bold 5, from a
business man in Port-Harcourt.
Gideon said that he operated taxi for hire and was not
part of the syndicate.
He admitted to dealing with Okwumo about five times,
but only on business grounds.
"I don't even know his name and he does not know
mine. I have never seen him with anyone. In all, I have taken him out like five
times. Once to YABATECH and another time to the airport," he said.
"The highest amount I have collected from him is
N2000. I am just a private night cab driver just hustling to survive. I was not
with him at the hotel and even the hotel camera did not pick me. The hotel
staff also did not mention that they saw me."
Gideon also said that he did not understand why Okwumo
had implicated him in the murder case.
"I was shocked and confused because I don't know
anything about this crime. It was when the police took me to the station that I
was told about the murder," he said.
"I have not seen the lady and I was not the one
who picked her from the airport, as my cab is not even allowed in the airport
premises.
"Even the second guy they arrested don't know me
and I have never seen him. So I don't know this lady that was killed and I have
never been to that hotel."
On his part, Nonso, who claimed to be a university graduate
and a second-hand phones' dealer, said his elder brother, Chidiebere, had also
deceived him.
He said that Chidiebere had approached him with
Cynthia's phone, claiming that it belonged to their uncle, Okwumo, who wanted
to sell and replace it with a newer model.
"After plugging it, I saw that there was no memory
card, no sim card and the phone has been flashed. I put it up for sale and when
someone bought it, he said the phone was stolen and I have to return it to the
station, so that was how I returned it and I was arrested. I don't know
anything about this murder," he insisted.
Meanwhile, Cynthia's corpse is believed to still lie at
the morgue, TOS Funerals at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital,
following a postmortem examination.
Sources at the morgue said that Cynthia's family
members were to show up to collect the body, even though her burial earlier
scheduled for September 8 in Delta State, had to be postponed indefinitely
because of the delay caused by the autopsy.
It has, however, been almost a week since the
completion of the autopsy and efforts to reach her family members, for
clarification, have been unsuccessful.