Okwumo Nwabufo, first defendant in the ongoing trial of the
murder of Cynthia Osokogwu, Friday told a Lagos High Court sitting in
Igbosere that they were lovers and were about getting married before her death.
Nwabufo, who was led in evidence by his counsel Chris Opara,
said he and the deceased met at Shoprite in Lekki, in 2011 where he went for
shopping, while she was also shopping at a fashion shop in Shoprite, contrary
to the allegations that they met on facebook.
The defendant said when he met her, she was making enquires
so he introduced himself to her and she did the same, adding that he gave her
his card and she gave him her phone number.
He also stated that the deceased told him about herself and
they exchanged addresses and became very close from thence.
The defendant, who claimed to be a car dealer and also a
part-time undergraduate student at the University of Lagos studying accounting,
said he paid the deceased a visit when he went to Abuja and he invited her to
where he lodged at Satellite Suit Hotel located at Bwari Area Council of Abuja.
Nwabufo, said from that moment they became very close and he
started assisting her as a close friend. “The late Cynthia was my girlfriend;
we were close as the way lovers are before they get married. She used to visit
me often in Lagos. She has been to my house up to five times. I was very
helpful to her doing everything a boyfriend does for his girlfriend like
monetary support, moral support and advising her always.
"I promised her that I would marry her and she accepted
but told me it is still early that I should wait till Christmas when
I would visit her parents in Delta State. Everything about
us was going well till the day I heard about her death. I was so devastated but
the police didn't give me the chance to express my feelings and they made me
look like a murderer.”
He further told the court that he received a call from the
deceased on July 21 2012, that she would be in Lagos at Cosmilla Hotel Lake
View Estate, Festac Town, in Lagos and that he should come over to see her with
the money I got from selling her Black berry phone.
According to the defendant, he decided to go to the hotel
with the second defendant: “When I got there, I asked if I could see the deceased.”
The receptionist asked him for her room number, which he could not provide.
“I tried calling her but it wasn't connecting. I left the
hotel for my house.
Continuing, he told the Judge that on August 1, 2012, he was
in his house around 1am, with one of his cousins who is a car dealer, Obiorah
and friend Odinaka who was about traveling to South Africa when he heard a loud
noise and the police came into his sitting room to arrest him.
During cross examination by the Attorney General of Lagos
state Ade Ipaye, the defendant told the court that he did not meet the late
Cynthia on facebook as he does not have a facebook account.
He denied ever knowing about Ryhophnol nor did he put it
into Cynthia’s drink. “I came across the drug during this trial, I don't know
how it looks. It is a fabricated allegation against me. Cynthia is my
girlfriend whom I love. I can never think of such and I can't do such to any
human being. I didn't administer any drug on her, it was the police that told
me to accept and to put it in writing and to claim that the pharmacist sold it
to me". He said
The matter was adjourned till December 12 for continuation
of trial.
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