Police arrest Lagos hotelier over son’s controversial death

THE Federal Criminal Investigation Department (FCID), Alagbon, Ikoyi, Lagos, has launched an investigation into the death of one Edwin Owodunni, suspected to have been killed by his own father. Edwin, according to sources was living with his mother in Germany when his father suddenly invited him to attend his grandmother’s burial at his village in Owerri, Imo State.


The Late Edwin
His father, Esom Obi Obele, was said to have met a Yoruba lady in Germany, and Edwin was the only child produced by their marriage, shortly before he relocated to Nigeria. Obele, who is the owner of Approach Suites in Festac area of Lagos State, The Nation gathered is currently being detained at the FCID’s office in Alagbon, Ikoyi. His arrest followed a petition written by one of Edwin’s siblings to the police, accusing his father of complicity in the death of his son, who was said to have committed suicide. The 20-year-old, according to his brother, Jide Owodunni, came to Nigeria on March 16, 2017, to attend the burial ceremony of his paternal grandmother.

According to a petition written by Jide entitled ‘’Petition of conspiracy, murder and stealing against Edwin Esom Obi Obele’’ dated July 10, 2017, the burial ceremony took place at Owerri, capital of Imo State on March 24. Edwin, who was scheduled to return to his base in Germany on April 7, later informed his mother on the telephone that he wanted to stay back to keep his father’s company for some weeks. The petition reads: ‘’So, he called on April to inform his mother that he has rescheduled his flight to May 12, (and) that he still wanted to spend more time with his father. That was the last time his mother in Germany heard from him. All efforts to reach Edwin’s father proved abortive. His father kept avoiding (telephone) calls and he later switched off his (telephone) lines. ‘’But to our surprise, the latest news we heard was that he(Edwin) committed suicide in his father’s village; we

were told that he hanged himself. Through our private investigations, we suspected that the father (Obele) used his son(Edwin) for rituals because the message Edwin sent to his older brother in Germany (via whatsapp) was that they put a chain on him in his father’s village and the message has been printed out. We tried to ask more question from Edwin but he no longer respond, so we suspected that Edwin’s phone was seized away from him. The father (Obele) buried the corpse by himself without any family consent.’’ Jide added: ‘’Nobody was told about Edwin’s death, not even his mother’s family members heard anything about his demise until we got the news that he committed suicide by hanging at Owerri. His mother was also not told about the death of her son.’’


Obele
The Nation gathered that the police launched a manhunt for Obele following a petition written to the Force headquarters by his maternal relatives. Obele, however, turned himself in to the police last Thursday after the manager of his hotel was arrested. Confirming the story, an impeccable police source at the told The Nation that the suspect was being detained at the FCID. ‘’Yes. Our department (Homicide Section of FCID) is currently handling the matter. The suspect is in our custody and we are still carrying out investigation on the matter,’’ the source, who asked not to be named said. It was also gathered that detectives had been dispatched to the suspect’s hometown, in Owerri, to unravel the circumstances surrounding Edwin’s death, following which the matter will be charged to court at the completion of investigation.