Family seeks justice for student killed by Yahoo boys in Ogun

The family of Alexander Uzoma, a student of Imo State University, has demanded justice over the alleged murder of their brother by suspected internet fraudsters, otherwise known as Yahoo-boys, in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.

The Ogun State Police Command had last week arrested four young men, who had confirmed that they dumped the corpse of the 20-year-old man on Kuto bridge in Abeokuta on November 20.

A statement released by the command said the suspects said Alexander visited them to learn internet fraud, after which he took a substance called Colorado and died.

However, the elder brothers of the Business Administration student denied telling the police that their brother went out to see a friend, saying he left home to watch a football match at a viewing centre around Adigbe, Abeokuta, being a Manchester United fan.

One of the siblings, Jude Uzoma, told newsmen that he could not fathom how the police came about telling the public that his brother went to see his friends.

“I was the one who wrote the statement when we got to Adigbe police station with our mother. We didn’t tell them he went to see any friend. We said he went to watch football. Where did the police get that information from?” Jude asked.

The young man revealed how he and his mother visited Ibara, Obada, Lafenwa and about 15 police stations, including the State police headquarters, Eleweran, in search of the missing boy, whose phone he said kept ringing.

After several failed efforts to locate Alexander within two days, Jude stated that the Association of Imo Indigenes in Abeokuta was informed, adding that the effort of the association brought about the transfer of the case to the police headquarters.

Also, the immediate elder brother of the deceased, Augustine Uzoma, said the police had informed them that his late brother was in contact with one of the said Yahoo-boys, who called him on phone.

 “He was in contact with only one of them, we don’t know how the other three came into the picture. According to what the suspects told the police, he followed them to their house; they ate, took Colorado, slept and woke up around 8pm. When they woke up, they found out that he had vomited all over his body and died.

“We further made our own investigation and discovered that those guys live at Lipede Estate. The police told us that they tracked my brother’s phone to know his movement. As at 3:36 pm on that November 20, they said the person called him and they went to a bar at Onikoko.

“The police also told us that at about 6:20pm, his phone was tracked to another place at Onikolobo, and that was where the tracking ended.

“If those guys are claiming he died in their house, his phone should be tracked to Lipede Estate. The tracking was supposed to end at Lipede, not Onikolobo,” Augustine said.