12th August, 2022
By Jethro Ibileke
A 26-year-old post graduate student of the University of Benin (UNIBEN), Jeffrey Omoregie, has been reportedly crushed to death by a suspected internet fraudster (Yahoo boy) who drove on top speed.
The incident occurred on Tuesday, 9 August, 2022, when the petroleum engineering graduate attempted to cross the Benin/Lagos highway, by Uselu.
It was gathered that Jeffrey who was to travel to Canada for his master’s degree programme in less than 20 days, was on his way to a Union Bank branch to wait for his mother, who wanted to make cash withdrawal from her bank account.
He was knocked down while crossing the expressway at Uselu junction, by a yet-to-be-identified motorist who drove a Lexus car numbered YAB 985 CL.
Jeffrey’s mother, simply identified as Fortune, who spoke to journalists on Thursday, said she was inside a vehicle conveying her to meet her son when she observed people clustering around an accident victim.
She said: “I got down and started telling people to let us help the victim. But on moving closer, I realised it was my son lying down in a pool of blood. I started crying and shouting that people should help me. He was still breathing and people helped me carry him inside a vehicle.
“We quickly rushed him to the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, where we were told that he had died. He was to travel out of the country on August 28 and I was going to the bank to give him money for the travel.
“The youth that assisted me said the boy that killed my son is a Yahoo boy (internet fraudster) and that his vehicle came from nowhere to knock my son down. If you see the damage on the car, you will think that the vehicle rammed into a truck. I want justice.”
Also seeking, the deceased’s younger brother, Aisosa, alleged that the police had been hiding the identity of the suspect.
He said, “On Tuesday, around 3pm, I got a call from my mum and heard her saying help me, help me before the call disconnected. She called back and said I should be coming to the UBTH because my brother had an accident.
“I was on my way to the Hospital when she called and said my brother had died. How the accident happened was that he crossed the Uselu-Lagos Expressway towards the barricade that separated the two lanes for vehicles coming and going.
“He was at the median and was about to cross to the other side of the road when the vehicle crushed him against the barricade.
“His legs and hands were broken; the accident was so bad that his head had a collision with the windscreen of the car that knocked him against the barricade and also to the other side of the road.
“Policemen from the BDPA division arrested the suspect that same Tuesday. But when my mum and I went to the police station and demanded to see the person responsible for my brother’s death, the investigating police officer told us the suspect had been transferred to the Area Command on Sapele Road.
“When we got there, we only saw the car and they still didn’t show us the suspect or tell us his name. They are just hiding his identity and we need to know his identity because we want justice.”
Jeffrey’s friend, Samuel Ebosele, alleged that the IPO had been trying to compromise the case, adding that some policemen had been calling the family for settlement.
The State Police Command Public Relations Officer, SP Chidi Nwabuzor, while reacting to inquiry, said the case had been transferred to the State Traffic Division, after initial investigation by the DPO of Ugbowo division, for further investigation.
“I have been in touch with the DPO of Ugbowo, who confirmed that the case had been transferred to the State Traffic Division where further investigation will carried out,” he added.