Man gets death sentence for strangling neighbour’s son to death

For strangling his neighbour’s son to death before dumping the body in a septic tank, a 24-year-old aluminum fabricator, Onyeka Patrick, has been sentenced to death by hanging.

Eight-year-old Ayuba Erikitola was gruesomely murdered by Patrick, who then proceeded to negotiate a ransom from the boy’s parents.

Justice Oluwatoyin Ipaye of an Ikeja High Court delivered the verdict on the grounds that the prosecution had proven its case against the convict beyond reasonable doubt.

Patrick, who had earlier pleaded not guilty, was convicted on a count charge of murder slammed against him by the Lagos State government.

The convict, a native of Achalla village in Anambra State, committed the offence on January 12, 2013, at Plot 14, 3rd Avenue, Mulmaco Estate in Lagos State.

According to information gathered by Metro, Patrick, who lived in the same neighborhood with the deceased, had lured the little boy on a Saturday morning, to his backyard in a bid to kidnap him and request for ransom from his parents.

When the kidnap seemed to be heading for success, the convict reportedly realised that the boy would identify him and probably tell his father who abducted him when finally released.

In order not to be caught, he decided to strangle the boy and bury him secretly.

Patrick was said to have put the boy’s body in a sack and thrown  it in an empty septic tank in the premises of an uncompleted building within the Estate. Thereafter, he proceeded with demanding for a N5 million ransom from the deceased’s father.

While waiting for the ransom, Patrick became troubled and stopped the negotiation bid. He thereafter confessed to the parents of the deceased, including the police, how he committed the act.