A 30-year-old man named Efe Onoitiyi, also known as Efe Money, has been paraded by the Delta Police Command. He abducted and killed his buddy Paulinus Okon, who owned Easy Boutique in Otokutu, Ughelli South Local Government Area, in the state.Read full article
According to LIB, a group of police officers led by Divisional Police Officer Aliyu Shaba in Ekpan Division, Uvwie Local Government Area, arrested Efe and a herbalist named Lawrence Joseph, who was allegedly the top priest of Otokutu, for the horrific murder of Paulinus.
The victim's head was also recovered by the police squad from its burial place at the chief priest's temple. It was also learned that Efe had enticed his companion to a temple, where they decapitated him and disposed of his body in the river.
According to reports, the suspects proceeded to fetch the deceased's body after learning that it had been spotted floating in the river three days later.
After cutting out all of his intestines, they connected the body to some hard stones and tossed it back into the river, where it sank.
To make it look like a kidnapping case, they also took the deceased automobile to Otu-Jeremi road and left it there.
Efe claimed to be in contact with the kidnappers and told Paulinus's family that he had been abducted. He then demanded a ransom of N20,215,000 from the deceased's brother.
During a press event at the command headquarters in Asaba on Monday, December 23, 2024, State Commissioner of Police CP Abaniwonda Olufemi paraded the suspect with three additional accomplices, including the top priest of Otokutu and a herbalist.
The CP claims that after getting N30 million from Paulinus, Efe admitted to k!lling him for not purchasing a property for the victim.
Efe claimed that after advertising a building to Paulinus for thirty million naira (N30,000,000), the deceased paid him N30 million in three installments to purchase the property.
But rather than purchasing the house, he used the funds for his own purposes, purchasing two properties and constructing a duplex for himself.
"I decided that k!lling the deceased will save him the trouble because I don't know how to explain to him that he used his money," he added. Greetings, ladies and gentlemen of the press. This press briefing is especially difficult.
The murder of Paulinus Okon "m" by his bosom friend Efe Onoetiyi is at issue," the CP said. "On August 9, 2024, Paulinus went out with his friend Efe Onoitiyi'm,' who is thirty years old, and his brother reported him missing.
Efe Onoitiyi, the suspect who first denied knowing what had happened to Paulinus, went to Paulinus's home to question Paulinus's family.
When he was asked with the dead's date of outing with him, he denied that the deceased had gone out with him.
Later, Efe returned and asked that the deceased's brother pay him five hundred thousand naira (#500,000), saying that he would use the money to pay a herbalist who could tell them where Paulinus was.
Asserting that he had contact with the kidnappers, Efe returned and told the family that Paulinus had been abducted and demanded a ransom of roughly twenty million seven hundred and fifteen thousand naira (#20,715,000) from the sibling who had died.
Efe was taken into custody and the case was sent to the State Criminal Investigation Department at State Headquarters in Asaba after it became clear that he had anything to conceal.
"On November 28, 2024, I gave DPO Ekpan instructions to take over the case and make sure that a covert investigation was conducted to find the culprits because the primary suspect, Efe, was refusing to cooperate.
Following an intelligence-led investigation, DPO Ekpan indicted 48-year-old Okeimute Gaga "m." After being arrested, Okeimute Gaga came forward and admitted that he could no longer conceal what had transpired.
Okeimute Gaga told the story of how Efe took Paulinus to the Orere River in Otokutu and asked that he be killed.
The suspect also said that on September 8, 2024, Paulinus Okon was chained to a stake near the Orere River at night and beheaded alive by himself, Efe and Sunday Ikpeba, and a 30-year-old herbalist named Lawrence Joseph.
The herbalist stole Paulinus' head and buried him at his shrine in Otokutu, while his body was dumped into the river.
The skull of Paulinus was excavated and recovered from the shrine in Otokutu after police officers from the DPO Ekpan Police station helped them get there. "When asked why he killed his friend Paulinus during interrogation, Efe explained that he saw a building for sale for thirty million naira (#30,000,000), which he advertised to the deceased.
The deceased paid him thirty million naira (#30,000,000) in three installments, but diverted the money for his own use, purchasing two lands and constructing a duplex for himself instead.
He added that he chose to kill me in order to save himself the trouble since he did not know how to explain to the deceased that he had used his money. Efe is in custody along with the other three suspects.