DETECTIVES attached to the Criminals
Investigation Department (CID) of the
Lagos Police Command are probing the
circumstances surrounding the death of a
40-year-old housewife, Helen Peters,
whose 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 in
vestigation 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 encour
age 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 execotion 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”,
he confessed. wrist watches for me, I
agreed. She
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 po
lice 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.
