The circumstances surrounding the gruesome
murder of Tony Eze, a 39-year-old International
businessman based in Abuja, the Federal Capital
Territory, have been unravelled by detectives
attached to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Force
Headquarters, Abuja. The late Eze, from
Umuagede village in Nsukka L.G.A. of Enugu State
met his untimely death after a night out with
friends, including a kinsman from Eha-Alumonah
in Enugu State (name withheld).
EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT
Eyewitness account said he was shot dead by two
young men on a motor bike who closed in on him
while he was trying to avoid a porthole, just a few
meters away from the refreshment garden at
Tungama area of Zuba in the outskirts of Abuja.
He had gone to the garden for conviviality with
friends. It was learnt that on the fateful day,
November 6, 2014, the father of two was about
closing for the day’s business when his kinsman
and best friend called to request that they go out
for drinks at Zuba. He was said to have initially
hesitated before reluctantly agreeing to be at the
refreshment garden in the evening.
IN THE LIONS’S DEN
He reportedly left his shop about 5pm and got to
the garden where he met three of his friends
already seated and enjoying drinks. Crime Guard
gathered that about 7:20pm, they all set to leave,
moving in a convoy, with his best friend and
kinsman driving the car in front. Eze was the last
to join before he was blocked and shot dead
inside his car.
SYNPATHIZERS ARRIVE SCENE OF DEATH
After the owner of the garden and other
sympathizers gathered at the scene, his friends
reportedly drove back claiming that they heard a
bang at their back but thought that Eze must have
hit something and that was why they continued
without him.
ABANDONEMENT
Reports said that even after the arrival of his
friends at the scene, no serious efforts were made
to either take him to the hospital or contact the
police at Zuba. Policemen arrived the scene
around 11pm and all efforts made to revive Eze in
the hospital failed. One of the doctors was said to
have reprimanded his friends for not rushing him
to the nearest hospital immediately they arrived
the scene, saying that he could have survived the
gun shots if he had been given immediate
medical attention.
SARS AND PRIVATE EYE TO THE RESCUE
Nevertheless, it was gathered that police
detectives of SARS swung into action after it was
noticed that the police at Zuba were lukewarm
over the ugly incident. Police sources said their
efforts were complemented by those of a Lagos-
based private detectives hired by members of the
family of the deceased. According to the source:
‘’While we were combing all the nook and cranny
of Abuja for clues, the private detectives were
busy spreading dragnets all over the country and
even beyond, where the deceased had business
partners.
BREAKTHROUGH AT LAST
“A startling breakthrough came few weeks back
after the private detectives succeeded in arresting
a suspect in possession of the phone of the
deceased which was the only item his assailants
disappeared with after the incident. The suspect
turned out to be in the same Aluminium Market
where late Eze had his shop. We drilled him for
long hours until he capitulated and started
confessing how they killed the innocent young
man.”
CONFESSIONS GALORE
According to him, two people came to engage
their services for the job in their cult group. He
gave a detailed description of them and one of the
descriptions tallied with that of the late
businessman’s best friend and kinsman who also
had business in the same market with him. The
suspect said that when they asked those that
came to hire them why they wanted the man
dead, they said he had been importing goods
from abroad and needed to be silenced. They
were paid N1.2million, some of them got
N250,000 while others got N300,000 each.”
HOW OPERATION WAS EXECUTED
Giving a vivid account of how they carried out the
operation on the day in question, the suspect said
some of them arrived the restaurant earlier than
the deceased and sat by a table near where he
later sat with his best friend who hired them. ‘He
said that as soon as they were ready to go, his
friend winked at them at the nearby table and they
used their telephone to flash their colleagues who
were positioned outside the area as a signal that
they should proceed to hit their target. He further
said they were told that he would be coming in a
car behind. So, his friend quickly drove off in front
with the deceased following behind and when they
got to the point where they had to join the
expressway, the friend in front drove faster. As
soon as his friend entered the expressway two of
the hired killers blocked the businessman’s car
and one of them just pulled out his gun,
approached the driver’s side and yanked open the
door.
While Eze was passionately pleading with them to
take whatever they needed and spare his life, the
armed man shot him point blank, picked his
phone and sped off.’’
Police sources also hinted that after the arrest of
five of the suspects at the popular Aluminium
Market, Abuja, his best friend confessed during
interrogation that the deceased gave him
N5million to exchange for him around October
2014, and he was yet to pay him back before he
was killed. It was learnt that initially, he wanted to
be smart by diverting the attention of detectives
to focus their searchlight on one of the brothers to
the deceased but when he learnt that one of the
killers had confessed to the crime, he withdrew
his allegation. Sources said detectives were still
searching for the second person that hired the
killers together with the best friend to the
deceased and would soon arrest him.
FAMILY REACTS
Family sources told Crime Guard that the arrest of
their son’s supposed best friend over his death
sent shock waves all over the community.
According to a member of the family who simply
identified himself as Simon( 45) : ‘’ This is the
greatest shock we have received in our area in
recent times. That suspect is well known to all of
us as Tony’s best friend. They used to travel
together to China on business trips. In fact, he
was closer to our brother than anybody in the
family. Whenever we needed to advise our
brother, we usually channelled it through this his
friend who happens to come from Eha-Alumonah
Community, a neighbouring town in Nsukka.
Interestingly, this his friend was leading
pallbearers during Tony’s burial. He was the first
to arrive our compound before other of his friends
and business partners arrived.
He was shedding tears uncontrollably. Even after
the burial, his wife prepared our traditional food
for the bereaved family which friends usually
partake in. I can remember vividly that a few days
after Tony’s burial, the suspect told some
members of our family that he (the deceased)
owed some business associates a whooping sum
of N12 million and there was urgent need to settle
the debt but we swept it aside by telling him that
it could come up after the mourning period.
I will use this opportunity to thank the Nigeria
Police Force and the private detectives for the
success recorded so far because these startling
confessions and arrests will go a long way to
assuage our deep feeling of loss. (In tears) Now
see, for how much did they take the precious life
of this young, amiable, promising and easy-going
young man? Who will train his children and take
care of his young wife?
PROBABLE MOTIVE
Crime Guard further gathered that detectives were
working on the theory that his best friend was
envious of his progress and the boom in his
business and hatched the plan not just to
eliminate him but also to stop him from asking for
the whooping N5million he gave him to change
last October. So far, it was learnt that both the
suspect that confessed to the killing and the
deceased best friend were taken separately to the
scene of the crime and they pointed out correctly
the table where they sat and the point where Eze
was intercepted and killed.
POLICE AUTHORITIES INTERVENE
Meanwhile, it was learnt that on hearing the
progress recorded in the case, police authorities
have directed that no stone should be left
unturned in rounding up all those remotely or
otherwise connected with the assassination of the
young and promising businessman and they
should be charged to court for murder
accordingly.
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