Cynthia Osokogu, the only daughter of Major General Frank Osokogu (retd), who reportedly went missing on July 22, 2012, newsmen gathered, was strangled by students in a hotel in FESTAC, Lagos.
Miss Cynthia, who was a postgraduate student in Nasarawa, went to Lagos to purchase "cheap" goods for her boutique , not knowing that she was dealing with a deadly syndicate.
A senior police officer, who craved anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the case, said the deceased was drugged, bound hand and foot and then strangled by her assailants.
The source said, “According to the confession obtained from two of the suspects, they met the deceased on the internet and lured her to Lagos to purchase goods at a cheaper rate.
“On getting to the airport in Lagos, the suspects took her to a hotel, drugged her, and bound her by hand and foot. They confessed to inflicting pains on her and strangling her before stealing her money, phone and identity card.
“The suspects confessed that their modus operandi is to lure young females to Lagos for such purpose. They said they had done it before.”
The police officer said when Cynthia's corpse was discovered by employees of the hotel, the matter was reported to the police but because her phones and identity card had been stolen, there was no way the police could ascertain her identity so her corpse was moved to Isolo General Hospital.
There are indications that an employee of the unnamed hotel was complicit and had been arrested.
Also, the pharmacist who gave the rare drug which was used to paralyse the deceased, had been arrested. He is suspected to be a member of the syndicate.
The source said the police embarked on an undercover operation which led them to Ogun State to arrest one of the suspects. “The last suspect was arrested at about 3am on Tuesday and we have almost completed investigations.
However, only two of the suspects have confessed,” the source said.
When contacted, the spokesperson for the state police command, Ngozi Braide, said “the Commissioner of Police for the state Police command, Mr. Umar Manko, will hold a press briefing on Wednesday (today) on the issue. The girl was killed but all details will be disclosed during the briefing.”
