A prime suspect in the murder of Cynthia Osokogwu, Okwumo Nwabufor,
yesterday told an Igbosere High Court that the nude photos of the
deceased found by the police in his laptop were planted by the police.
He
said: “When the police searched my residence, they took my iPhone and
my iPad. They must have put the photographs into the laptop.”
Nwabufor,
who was being cross-examined by a defence counsel, Michael Ajayi, said
the police threatened his life and tortured him into making written and
video taped confessional statements.
“The police tortured and threatened me into admitting that I and Olisa Chidera (the second defendant) committed the crime.
“There
is no truth in my statements to the police, I made those admissions in
my confessional statement because I feared for my life,” he said.
Nwabufor,
35, is standing trial before Justice Olabisi Akinlade, alongside Olisa
Chidera, 25; Orji Osita, 34 and Ejike Ifechukwu, 26, over alleged murder
of their Facebook friend, Miss Cynthia Osokogwu, 24, a postgraduate
student of Nasarawa State University, at Cosmilla Hotel, Lake View
Estate, Festac Town, Lagos on July 22, 2012 .
Meanwhile,
a mild drama, ensued in court as the trial had to be stopped abruptly
because Ajayi, the defence counsel of the second defendant, Chidera,
was unwilling to cross-examine his client when he took the witness
stand.