General’s Daughter Robbed and Killed By Facebook Friends

More details have come to light on the possible cause of death of Cynthia Osokogu, the generals daughter whose body we reported was found in a morgue at Festac yesterday. If the ungoing police investigation is anything to go by , it may be deduced that Cynthia was killed by her facebook friends.

The Lagos State Police Command commenced investigations into the death of Cynthia Osokogu, the only daughter of Major General Frank Osokogu (retd), who was reported missing on July 22, 2012.

According to reports, Cynthia had been chatting with some new “friends” on Facebook for a few months. In the course of their conversations, they developed a friendship and a level of trust. These young men were also university students, they seemed normal and promised to host Cynthia when she came to Lagos.

Before coming to Lagos from Nasaarawa where she was based, Cynthia, went to visit a friend in Abuja then left for Lagos to purchase goods for her boutique. The 24-year-old was picked  up from the airport in Lagos and driven to a hotel in Festac. At the hotel, they tied her up, robbed her of all the money she brought to shop for her business and strangled her to death.

They then left the hotel and quickly deleted her from their facebook friend list to remove any trace of their connection.
The hotel found her body and since her ID cards and mobile phone had been stolen, they could not identify her or call friends and family.
Her body was deposited in a morgue in Festac.

At some point, one of the culprits accidentally answered Cynthia’s phone and the call was traced to Festac. Therefore, her missing person’s police report was submitted to the Area E Command in Festac. This enabled her family to find her body in the morgue and also led them to the hotel.

The culprits were said to be the same people who actually paid for her flight ticket to Lagos.

Using CCTV from the hotel, the killers were identified. According to reports, these two young men are university students who have now confessed that they killed Cynthia and she is their sixth victim – the gang reportedly specializes in luring unsuspecting young women, robbing them of their possessions before killing them. Though there is speculation that their motive was ritualistic, it appears that it was greed and their main goal was to rob and kill. The pharmacist who supplied the drugs used on Cynthia and hotel staff have also been arrested. According to Police spokesperson Ngozi Braide, “Six people were arrested on Sunday over the incident and investigations are ongoing”.

Cynthia is just one of the many unlucky people who have met an untimely death from social networking sites. Nigerians should be more careful and avoid meeting   “NEW” friends with unknown backgrounds  from these sites without informing friends and family, or in secluded places.

God keep us all.