Okwumo Nwabufo, first defendant in the ongoing trial of the murder of Cynthia Osokogwu,yesterday 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.
