by Zara Mustapha

A woman, Idayat Erikitola, who is mourning the loss of her son told an Ikeja High Court in Lagos how her neighbour, Patrick Onyeka, allegedly abducted and strangled him to death in Ikotun area of Lagos.

The accused, Onyeka was arraigned on May 15 by the Lagos State Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) on a charge of murder.

Testifying before Justice Oluwatoyin Ipaye at the commencement of Onyeka’s trial, Mrs. Erikitola told the court how the accused reportedly lured her 8-year-old boy into his residence at Plot 14, 3rd Ave., Mulmaco Estate, Ikotun, Lagos, on January 12, 2013 and murdered him.

He is also alleged to have thereafter demanded a ransom of N5 million from the boy’s parents, before he was arrested by the police.

Leadership reports:

Led in evidence by the state prosecutor, Mr Akin George, the witness, whose testimony was translated from Yoruba to English Language, said she had four children and Ayuba was the last.

Erikitola said the defendant lived on the same street with her and she knew him very well.

“He has been living very close to us with his elder brother. Their compound has four flats and shares the same fence with my house,” she said.

The witness said on the day of the incident, she left Ayuba at home and went to the market.

According to her, when she came back, she could not find the child and she became agitated because it was getting late.

Erikitola said some of her neighbours, including the defendant and his brother’s wife, joined in the search for her son, which yielded no positive result.

She said one of her sons later discovered a note stuck on their gate, which was addressed to Alhaji (her husband) demanding for a N5 million ransom.

The witness said the note was later shown to some of the neighbours, including the defendant’s brother and his wife, who both feigned ignorance of the handwriting.

“The next morning, a young girl living in their compound called Favour saw me and she ran inside; so, I became suspicious.

“Later, we went to the police station and I told the policemen that the occupants of that house may be behind Ayuba’s abduction,” she said.

According to her, very early the next day, a neighbour called her husband to come to the defendant’s compound urgently.

“When we got there, we saw the elder brother who confirmed to us that the ransom note emanated from Onyeka.

“The police was invited and he was handed over to them for further interrogation.

“By the time he took them to where he kept the corpse inside a sack, the police did not allow me to go there and so, I never saw my little boy again,” Erikitola said.

The witness further told the court that she did not write any statement at the police station because she was not in the right frame of mind.