28-year-old Okadigbo is in police net for
killing her married lover she met on
social networking site, Badoo..
She met the deceased who is from Ondo
State on the site in 2013 and they kicked
off a relationship without knowing he
was a married man and had hopes of
getting married to him till she found out
that he was already taken and in a fit of
jealousy, organized his murder.
Her lover,Bankole Charle,an oil worker
with Halliburton Nigeria Limited,
Bankole Charles, must have thought he
was playing with an ordinary woman
when he met Loretta Odikagbo..Little
did he know that the affair would end
his life .
It all started when she found out that
Charles was married and when she
confronted him, he owned up to it but
promised to buy her a car as
compensation but when he failed to
fulfil his promise, Okadigbo enlisted the
help of one Ime Francis Moses, and
another man who is still at large and
stormed his Woji, Port Harcourt, Rivers
State residence, and ended his life.
Odikagbo, an Ordinary National
Diploma holder in Marketing from the
River State Polytechnic (RIVPOLY), and
Moses, a university drop out, are now
languishing in the cells of the State
Criminal Investigation Department
(SCID), after they were arrested
following the murder of Charles.
The SCID team traced Odikagbo to the
residence of her other boyfriend whom
she was putting up with at
Rumukpokwu, Obio/Akpor Local
Government Area on December 10, last
year.
Odikagbo confessed to her crime:
"I was arrested over the death of
my boyfriend, late Charles Bankole.
I conspired with my friend and
took my in-law to his house to
harass him so I could get some
money from him, which led to his
death, but I was not there when he
died.
I was at the Automated Teller
Machine (ATM). There is a third
person that can tell the story of how
he died but unfortunately, he has
not been arrested. So, he is not here
now. This story can’t be complete if
the third person is not arrested.
I am 28 years. I met Bankole on the
internet. I initially did not know
that Bankole was married; overtime
I discovered. He actually promised
to settle things with me. He talked
about buying a car. When I hinted
this to my in-law (Ime), he said he
had a way to help me get what I
wanted from him and I conceded to
the idea.
On the agreed day, I moved into
Bankole’s house and waited for them
there. He came with another of his
friend. I opened the door for them.
They came in.His junior started tying
Bankole up. Ime was holding a torch
which they came with because this
happened in the night and there was no
electricity supply and it was raining
heavily.
At a point, I decided to go to the
ATM with his (Bankole’s) card to
withdraw some money from his
bank account. One of the two men
decided to go with me. So, my in-
law (Ime) was left behind with
Bankole who was still alive when
we left.
He (Ime) later met me at the ATM
point to get some money from me.
He informed me that he called a
taxi driver to carry some things
from Bankole’s house. I told him
that I was going because it was
already late at night.
I was arrested on December 10,
brought here (at the SCID), and
showed picture of lifeless body of
Bankole. I don’t know who killed
him. The relationship lasted for
over a year. I am not so certain
because we related a long time on
the Internet before we met in real
life."
On her reaction that the late man was
married, she said:
"I was not actually angry, but he
did not just tell me he was married.
We never discussed marriage.
At a point, we were serious with the
relationship but when I discovered
his marital status, I was
disappointed and decided to pull
out to continue with my life but he
insisted on buying me a car instead
to calm me down. That was what
happened.I feel so terrible and
primitive. I am guilty of the crime.
Bankole was my first Internet
boyfriend; I am not used to meeting
people on the Internet or Facebook.
I blame my action on hanging out
with wrong friends."
But the Eket-born Ime gave a different
account on how Charles died, making it
clear that it was Loretta that actually
killed him.Hear his account:
"Loretta called and informed me
that her boyfriend owed her some
money, which he was supposed to
use and settle her out of their
broken relationship but he was
turning her up and down.
I promised to help her get the
money out from the man. On the
day agreed, she called me and
picked me up at my street junction,
from where we proceeded to pick
another boy she had earlier called
for the job, but the boy came and
declined going with us.
On our way out from the boy’s
junction, we met another boy who I
know that loads taxi at the junction
there. I called him and she
explained to him what she wanted
to do that night; he agreed to go
with us.
When we got to the man’s house, she
went in while we stood under the
staircase of the one-storey building he
shared with other occupants, waiting
for her instructions. I was holding a
torch light which she gave me money to
buy and a holding a car window
winder, which looked like a gun, while
the boy was holding a rope and
cellotape she brought.After a while, she
came and opened the door for us. We
got in through the kitchen, where we
stood before she called us to come to the
bedroom where she was with the man.
When we stepped into the room, I
pointed the torch light on the man
and told him that he befriended our
sister for such a period of time, and
pushed her out empty and without
shelter, no settlement.
The man pleaded that we should
wait, that he was going to settle her.
At that point, she started to slap the
man all over his face and used the
tape to tape his mouth, after which
the other boy tied his legs and
hands.
It was then she asked the man for his
ATM card and pin; she got them and
went to the ATM point with the boy,
while I was left with the man in case the
pin failed. While they left for the ATM,
they carried the man’s phone and
laptop.
After a while, she came back to me
at the man’s house. I asked her to
come let us go, she said, ‘no’, that
the man knows her very well, that
if we should leave him at this
junction, he will definitely come
after her, and that when he gets
her, she will mention my name. She
asked if I will like to be arrested, I
said ‘no’.
She now went to the man’s kitchen
and brought polythene bag which
she wore on the man’s head and sat
on it. As the man was struggling, I
held his head until the man was
motionless.
She gave me N28, 000 only. I feel
very guilty for the action."
Culled from The Nation
