The grieving family of Foejiro Ojite has implored the police authorities to ensure that her perpetrators face justice.
Reportedly, Foejiro, aged 31, was brutally murdered in her apartment in the Agiliti area of Ketu, Lagos, on July 27, 2023. Her assailants not only took her life by slitting her throat but also set her apartment ablaze.
The rising smoke alerted neighbors, who, in a heroic effort, forced the door open, only to discover her lifeless body on the floor with her hand badly burned.
The police confirmed this tragic incident in July and indicated that the victim’s remains had been removed and placed in the mortuary for autopsy. Detectives from the State Criminal Investigation Department in Yaba were assigned to investigate the case.
An autopsy report from the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, dated August 31, 2023, and obtained by our correspondent, revealed that Foejiro died due to “sharp force trauma to the neck.”
In the meantime, Foejiro’s father, Michael Eroh, who spoke to PUNCH Metro in September, expressed his concerns about the state police command’s handling of the case. Eroh also alleged that three individuals arrested in connection to his daughter’s murder had been released.
The distraught father said, “We are not getting a clear direction from the police and I am really worried. The killers made away with her two phones. They withdrew some money from the husband’s bank app on the phone. Two phone numbers were recharged with airtime.
“The police have tracked the phone, recovered them, and arrested three persons but they have also been released. I do not trust the police’s investigation. I need help from whosoever can help me for justice on those who assassinated my daughter.”
Foejiro’s husband, Ojite Tesywhite, also said the method of investigating the case was poor.
He said, “They (the police) said they would make use of a tracker to get the suspect that transferred over N500,000 from the account on the phone. The case was transferred to Panti.
“They said they would trace the owner of the account where the money was transferred. I mobilised them (financially) for that. They said what they did was to place a tracker on the account so that when the suspect went to withdraw at the bank, he would be arrested. That method is very poor.”
Contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, promised to find out about the case and get back to our correspondent.
“I will find out and get back to you,” Hundeyin said in a chat with our correspondent. He had yet to revert as of the time of filing this report.
But a top police source in the state command, who did not want to be named because he was not authorised to speak on the matter, said the police couldn’t release suspects involved in the murder case except if found innocent.
“We have many murder cases. We can never release a suspect in a murder case. But if the suspects arrested in connection to such a case are found innocent, they could be released. Those that have been established to be involved in the case will not be released,” the senior officer said.
