A female restaurant owner, Janet Effiong, 32, paid a robbery suspect, Femi Talabi, to attack her ex-boyfriend, simply identified as Murphy over allegations that the man cheated on her severally and refused to marry her despite the fact that she had aborted two babies for him.
However, luck ran out on them around 7:30pm on Saturday, February 7, 2015 when they were caught and arrested by policemen attached to the Rapid Response Squad on Airport Road, near Ajao Estate, in the Isolo area of the state.
Thereafter Effiong, who hails from Uruan, Akwa Ibom State, with her accomplice, Talabi were transferred to the state Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Ikeja.
According to Punch, Effiong, whose restaurant in the Victoria Garden City, VGC area of Lekki, had agreed to pay Talabi, who was one of her patrons, a sum of N20,000 for the deal.
The suspect allegedly collected an initial payment of N10, 000 and promised to get two more men for a successful operation.
He called the victim who is a taxi driver to take him to Ajao Estate in his cab and along the way, the cab driver became suspicious as Talabi wanted to attack him after which the hired attacker brought out a toy gun.
A fight however ensued between the duo which attracted the attention of the policemen leading to Talabi’s arrest.
Confessing the crime, Effiong said, “I contacted Femi (Talabi) to help me deal with my former lover. Murphy and I had been dating since 2012. I lavished money on him, thinking he would marry me. He even borrowed N200, 000 from me and failed to pay back.
“He also impregnated me on two occasions and he forced me to abort them. I insisted I would not abort the third one, and he promised to take care of the baby. But it was a lie.
“So, I hired Femi to trace him and beat him up. Femi said he would get two other friends to do the job. I did not know he would go alone. I promised to pay Femi N20,000.
“I did not plan to kill my lover. I only wanted to punish him for neglecting me for other women.”
On his own part, 35-year-old Talabi who hails from Epe, Lagos, said, “I live in the Bariga area, but work as an Air conditioner technician in Lekki. I am not a cultist. It was Janet (Effiong) who contacted me to do a job for her. I knew her as a restaurant manager. She said the man was her ex-lover and had abandoned her.
“I called him to take me in his cab to a destination on Airport Road, Isolo, where the attack would take place. I was to pay him N7,000 for the trip. Janeth told me to only assault, and not to kill him. While in the cab, I lied that I wanted to ease myself and he stopped. When he did, I brought out a toy gun and wanted to hit him on the head, but a fight started and we as were struggling with each other, the police found out, and they arrested both of us.”
Confirming the incident, the Lagos State Police spokesperson, DSP Kenneth Nwosu, disclosed that the police had concluded investigations on the matter and will soon charge the suspects to court.
