A 40-year-old housewife, Helen
Peters’ lifeless body was found in the house of a young man
identified as Henry Uwadiegwu on January 19, 2015.
The victim was allegedly lured by Henry to his house on number 36,
Fashola Street, Agege, with the intention of abducting her for ransom.
To perfect his plans, Henry allegedly hired some thugs to tie her up on
the excuse that she was insane. He also contacted a nurse who injected
her with an unidentified drug to sedate her for 8 hours. But the drug
ended up killing her.
The suspicious activities going on in his flat drew the attention of
his landlady who stopped him from fleeing when he discovered that Helen
was no longer breathing.
On his arrest, a police source told Saturday Sun that they
got were alerted by a source at the General Hospital, Ipaja that a young
man brought in a dead woman without valid explanation. Henry was
within the hospital vicinity when the Police arrived there and arrested
him.
During interrogation, Henry, 25, told the Police that the deceased was his sugar mummy for
many years. Hear the Police source:
“Henry hatched a plan to extort
money from her family and executed the plan. He deceived neighbours
and a nurse to tie Helen up and inject her with drug that could sedate
her for several hours. When they discovered that she was no longer
moving her body, they rushed her to the hospital where she was confirmed
dead.
“To cover his tracks,Henry registered the deceased with a fake name and address.
Also in order to confirm that he and Helen were lovers, Henry took us
to a hotel where he claimed they normally hanged out although
investigation revealed that he worked in the hotel as a security man.
He also took us to a bar and we discovered that the place is very close
to the deceased in-law’s house and few meters to her family house. This
made it impossible for anyone to believe that story. Meanwhile
investigation is ongoing,” the source told Saturday Sun.
Police investigation further revealed that before the incident, a
school proprietress had narrowly escaped being kidnapped by Henry
sometime ago. It was alleged that he invited the woman from her school
at Gowon Estate, Ipaja to his house at Agege to discuss the modalities
for enrolling two of his children in her school. But as God would have
it, the woman failed to show up.
My wife only wanted to help him -Husband
When Saturday Sun’s correspondents visited the deceased home at
Gowon Estate, where friends and sympathisers were trooping in to console
Helen’s husband, Emmanuel and the immediate family, the bereaved
husband who is also a Zonal Pastor at the Winners Chapel, explained
that his wife was deceived by the suspect into believing that he was
in need.
“My wife was a good woman and her major weak point was her
generosity. Henry was once a security man in the estate and he was well
known to the residents including my family members. Few weeks before
the incident, my wife informed me about her encounter with Henry. She
explained that Henry impregnated a woman and the woman’s family insisted
that he must marry her.
“She said that Henry came to her shop at Gowon Estate and knelt down
begging for assistance and since she was a woman leader in the church,
she wanted to encourage him by supporting the marriage. I was not
comfortable with that story but my wife ensured that I was okay with the
story. Anytime the guy visited her shop, she would tell me.
“Few days to the day of the incident, my wife came back and in her
usual way of keeping me updated, said that Henry had secured a venue
for wedding. She told me that as soon as they agreed on a date; she
would like to go and see the hall to be sure that the rent was not high.
On January 19, she told me that she would go and inspect the house.
“They agreed to meet at an eatery in Ipaja, and take off from there.
My wife was at the eatery and called me. She told me that she was
waiting for Henry and also used the opportunity to alert me that her car
was faulty. I volunteered to come with another car if that one could
not be managed but she said she would manage it. That was the last time I
heard from her.
“ Thereafter, her phones were switched off. I assumed that her phone
battery was down. But when I waited and did not hear from her, I became
alarmed. It was then it occurred to me that the children were still in
school and if they had not returned, then their mother had not gone to
pick them. I rushed out and brought my kids home. I also called my
in-laws and they said that she was not with them.
“I decided to trace Henry through the family of the girl that he
claimed he impregnated. The family members who I saw were so bitter and
threatening to deal with Henry, if he dared come close to their house. I
was alarmed because I nad just discovered that there was no wedding
coming up. I managed to get his number and called him asking how he was
preparing for his wedding. He asked me which wedding was I referring to
and switched off his phone. It was already late in the evening. I heard
my phone rang but before I could pick, it rang out. I was excited when I
noticed that the call was from my wife. I did not bother to call back
because I assumed that she was then at home. I got home but discovered
that she had not returned. It was then that I called her number and the
person who picked the call said, ‘the person wey get this phone don die.
Come to the police station oh’.
“I was shocked but I composed myself and called my pastors, family
and close friends. It was when we got to the police station that it
dawned on me that my wife was no more. When I eventually saw her, she
had marks around her wrist which showed that she was tied up. She also
had bruises all over her face.
“Henry murdered my wife for her generosity. It was when the matter
came up, that some women in the estate narrated their experiences. I
have been married to her for 15 years and God blessed us with four
children,” Emmanuel said in tears.
Henry’s confession
At the police station, Henry admitted that he hatched a plan to
kidnap Helen but insisted that the execution of the plan was easy
because they were lovers.
“Helen was my girlfriend and she lured me
into the relationship. Her provision shop was closer to where I was
working and I used to call her aunty. So, one day she called me and told
me that she would like us to be friends. Initially, I was afraid to do
that because she was a married woman. But when she started buying gifts
like clothes and wrist watches for me, I agreed. She had visited my
house three times. At a point, I decided to kidnap her to raise about
N10m to establish a business and start a new life”,
Determined to perfect his plot, Henry arranged with an auxiliary
nurse within the area who could sedate Helen, so that she would fall
sleep.
“So, on that day when she told me that she would visit me, I
arranged with a nurse and told her that my brother’s wife was insane and
that I would like her to give her sleep inducing injection, so that I
could tie her up and take her to the village. On that fateful day, Helen
drove to my house and sat in front of my room. In the process, I went
and called four of my neigbours to assist me tie her, so that I could
send her to the village and they did. Thereafter, the nurse came and
injected her and she slept off. I paid her the sum of N1,500 as agreed.
After some time, she could no longer move her body. So, we put her in
her car and drove her to the General Hospital, Oke Odo. On getting
there, they did not want to attend to us. One of the nurses said that
the woman was already dead. It was then I knew that I had entered into
trouble.
“One of the people that followed me to the hospital escaped and ran
to our house to report. I think, it was they that informed the police
for fear of being arrested. Shortly, the police came and arrested me. I
had no intention to kill her. What I needed from her was money. My
intention was to kidnap her, so that her family would raise money for
me. It could be that the injection the nurse gave her was overdose,” he
narrated.
Pleading for mercy, Henry said he could not explain what led him into
the act.
“I think there is a bad spirit that is tormenting me. My
parents died when I was 3 and I do not have any one to lean on. There
was a female herbalist in my village that I was working with and before
she died, she told me to continue with the job, but I refused. I do not
know whether it was my refusal that is working against me now. Please
help me invite a pastor to pray for me”, he pleaded.
Henry told Saturday Sun that he came to Lagos at the age of 15 but
had nowhere to stay. So, he went straight to Iyana Ipaja under bridge.
He stayed there for two years before he was able to get someone to
squat with. Thereafter, he left and met the owner of his present
apartment who later moved out and left the place for him.
When asked whether his neighbours who helped him tie his victim
were members of his gang, he denied that they had hands in the deal;
rather he deceived them that the woman was insane and needed help to tie
her and take her to the village.
I heard someone scream, Landlady, son recount
Expressing gratitude to God that she noticed the situation on time,
the landlady of the house, Cibi Shittu said that they would have been in
trouble if Henry succeeded in fleeing the compound.
“Henry is my tenant
and lives at the boys’ quarters. I do not know much about his
activities as he is a quiet tenant that only greets and goes his way.
On that fateful day, I was in the house and heard the voice of a woman
crying for help. Although, I had waist pain, I managed to drag myself
out of the house and walked towards his apartment. I noticed that they
were dragging someone and I called out to Henry who we fondly called Oyibo. He simply told me not to worry that there was no problem, but I was suspicious because I heard some screaming.
“Immediately, I called my son Gafaru to leave whatever he was doing
and come to the house and he did in less than 20 minutes. If not for
God, I’m sure that the police would have detained us for days over the
incident”, she maintained.
Corroborating her mom, Gafaru said when he heard the urgency in his
mother’s voice, he ran to their house.
“That day was the first time that
I met Henry personally. I knew we had a tenant called Henry but since I
do not live in that compound, I had not met him personally. As soon
as I got to his room, he refused to allow me in but I was able to
observe that a hefty woman was lying on the floor. I also noticed that
he had packed his bags as if he wanted to travel.
“I asked him who she was and he explained that Helen was his sister
who was insane. He claimed that he drugged her so that they could carry
her to the east where a specialist would take care of her. I demanded
that he should take her to the hospital. We took her to the General
Hospital and they confirmed that she was already dead.
“I held unto him, and demanded that we have to report the matter to
the police since the woman was dead. I searched for him and saw the
woman’s phone. I checked her call and the most recent call was saved as
‘My Husband’. I dialed the number and informed the person that picked
the call that his wife was dead. We alerted the police, who came and
picked him up from the hospital”, Gafaru narrated.