Christopher Oji
Operatives of the Lagos State police Command have nabbed the man who allegedly murdered a female lawyer in her hotel room in the Opebi area of the metropolis.
The suspect, Usulor, now in detention at the homicide section of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), Panti, Yaba, told the police that he killed the woman to raise money for his hotel bills.
Giving a graphic account of how he snuffed life out of the lawyer, the suspect told the polic: “On the fateful day, I was looking for money to pay my hotel bill, because I over-spent and I did not want embarrassment. I was thinking of what to do when I saw the female lawyer. Convinced that she was alone in her room, I knocked and when she opened the door, I wanted to steal her money and her phones but she started struggling with me, so I stabbed her. I did not konow her before.”
On January 26, Barr. Feyitayo Obot, 34, was gruesomely murdered in her hotel room and the case was reported to the police.
Sequel to the report, the command detailed homicide detectives to the scene of crime, where they collected exhibits for forensic analysis.
According to the Lagos State police spokesman, CSP Chike Oti, Obot was stabbed many times in her abdominal region and her throat slit open with a sharp object.
He said while the body was recovered for autopsy, the police commenced investigation into the matter as the suspect had absconded after committing the crime.
Oti said the Lagos State Commissioner of Police Zubairu Muazu ordered the deputy commissioner of police in charge of the SCIID, Yetunde Longe, to go after the culprit.
“Painstaking investigation led to the arrest of the suspect, Usulor, on February 28, at his hideout in Victoria Island Lagos. During interrogation, the suspect confessed to have committed the crime. He said he had not met Ms Obot until the day he attacked her and that he was motivated to rob the deceased to enable him offset his hotel bill having spent two days above the one day he paid for.
“To execute his plans undetected, he claimed he sneaked into the deceased’s room to steal her money and her phones, but the deceased struggled with him and he overpowered her. He then stabbed her with a sharp knife in the stomach and used the same knife to slit her throat. Satisfied that the woman was dead, he made away with her phones and N26,000.
“Investigation revealed that the deceased was a lawyer who came to Lagos for a business meeting and lodged in the hotel.
“The suspect will be charged to court for murder. Meanwhile, CP Muazu has directed that the case file be duplicated and forwarded to the Directorate of Public Prosecution for legal advice,” he said.