A 54-year-old carpenter, Awele Ukpor, has been remanded at Ikoyi Correctional Centre over the alleged murder of a 24-year-old woman.
Ukpor is accused of killing Joy Onyekachi whom he met at a restaurant in the Ajangbadi area of Lagos State on November 19, 2023.
It was gathered in court on Monday, Dec. 18, that Ukpor met Onyekachi in a bar he visited in the area and they engaged in a conversation.
During their conversation, Onyekachi told Ukpor that she had lost her job and he offered to take her home and afterwards pay her N60,000 to start up something.
However, after spending the night with her, he offered her N20,000, which was not the initial agreement and this led to an argument.
While she was arguing with him, he allegedly hit her on the head with an iron basin and she died.
Ukpor afterwards sought the help of a scrap collector who helped him bury her in a shallow grave behind an abandoned bakery.
Ukpor was brought before Magistrate Linda Balogun sitting before a Magistrate’s Court in Yaba, Lagos State, on a one-count of murder.
The police prosecutor, Chekwube Okeh, prayed the court to remand the defendant to the correctional centre pending the outcome of legal advice from the office of the Directorate of Public Prosecutions.
The charge read: “That you, Awele Ukpor, November 19, 2023, at Jelli Close, Ajangbadi, Lagos in the Lagos Magisterial District, did unlawfully kill the deceased, Joy Onyekachi, aged 24 years, by hitting an iron basin on her head and thereafter secretly buried the corpse in a shallow grave and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 222 and punishable under Section 223 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2015.”
The plea of the defendant was not taken.
Granting the request of the prosecutor, the magistrate remanded the defendant to the Ikoyi Correctional Centre pending legal advice from the DPP.
Magistrate Balogun adjourned the case till January 24, 2023, for the DPP advice.
