THREE persons, who yesterday appeared before an Ebute Meta Chief Magistrate’s Court in Lagos have been charged with the murder of one Helen Peters, aged 40.
The accused are Henry Uwadiegwu, 25, a security guard; Monday Ochonu, 25, his accomplice and Taiwo Adebiyi, 57, a nurse.
The trio were alleged to have conspired to kill the deceased by bounding her hands and legs backward and gagging her mouth before injecting her to death. The accused are standing trial before Magistrate K.O. Ariyo for alleged conspiracy and murder, among other charges.
The prosecutor, Cpl. Mariam Dauda, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) told the court that the accused and his friends had on January 19, at about 3.00p.m. conspired to murder the deceased, who was Uwadiegwu’s benefactor.
“Uwadiegwu had invited the deceased to his home at No. 36, Fashola Streer, Papa Ashafa in Agege, Lagos where he had bound her legs and hands backward, gagging her before strangling her with the help of Ochonu, his friend.” she said.
The prosecutor said the accused had also invited Adebiyi, a nurse, to help in injecting the deceased with 50 miligrammes of Lagatine injection to paralyse her, which eventually led to her death.
She added that the accused committed offences that were contrary to Sections 221 and 231 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011, which stipulates a life imprisonment for the offender if found guilty.
Ariyo, however, said the court would not take the plea of the accused as it lacked the jurisdiction to do so. She ordered the police to continue investigation into the matter and directed that the case file should be duplicated and forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPPs) for legal advice.
According to Ariyo, the accused should be remanded at the Ikoyi Prisons pending when the DPPs would provide the court the legal advice.
She said that upon the receipt of legal advice from the directorate, the accused would be arraigned at the appropriate court. The magistrate then adjourned the case to March 30.