VANGUARD publisher's wife ritual murder: Journalist charged with extortion

A reporter with The Westerner newspaper, Lagos, Mr. Steve Chinua-Ogwu and a film director, Alhaji Rasheed Alanyade were yesterday arraigned at an Ikeja Magistrate’s Court for allegedly extorting N4million from Oyindamola, the wife of the publisher of Vanguard, Mr. Sam Amuka.

But the accused pleaded not guilty to the four-count charge and they were granted bail by the Magistrate, Mrs. Ipaye Nwachukwu, for N500, 000, with a surety.

The suspects will remain in custody pending when the bail conditions are met.

The case was adjourned till March 22.

Mrs. Amuka’s ordeal began when she was introduced by one of her friends to one Islamic cleric, popularly known as Alpha for the cure to a strange ailment which reportedly plagued her son.

At a point after visiting Ikorodu and Ibadan, the Oyo State capital in search of the cure in Alpha’s company, she claimed to be oblivious of whatever transpired until her arrest by the police.

There was a claim that Mrs. Amuka was caught with a human head dripping with blood.

But one of those arrested, the 11-year-old son of Alayande, Muyiwa, said the picture of the person who was beheaded was his.

He said it was stage-managed by his father who told him that it was for a film they were going to make.

The alleged plan to extort money from Mrs. Amuka was hatched within the inner recesses of the State Criminal Investigations Department (SCID), Panti, Yaba, it was learnt.

The plan was hatched and perfected in the office of Superintendent Jonathan Babatunde while he was the Head of D13 Monitoring Unit at the SCID.

Babatunde confessed that Alayande (alias Lexus) mooted the idea of how money could easily be made from a case of "Obtaining by Trust".

Alayande did a petition which was approved by Babatunde.

Babatunde, it was learnt, detailed Sgt. Beke Ezeh, Patrick Arawunmi and Constable Toyin Omojola, to go to Ikorodu to effect the plan.

While his men were about going for the operation, Chinua-Ogwu, who claimed to be crime reporter, allegedly stumbled on the plan when he visited Babatunde’s office.