CONFESSIONS EMERGE IN TRAGIC KILLING OF LAGOS UTME CANDIDATE

Two suspects arrested over the killing of a Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) candidate in Lagos have confessed to luring the victim and strangling him to death.

The victim, 17-year-old Thomson Adams, was reportedly murdered by his former secondary schoolmates, Tony Ogeneta (21) and Elijah Emmanuel (23), who feared he could expose them.

According to the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Tijani, the suspects were arrested on April 27 at Lucky Fibre in Ikorodu following credible intelligence.

Investigations revealed that Adams had just returned from writing his UTME on April 22 when he was invited to the suspects’ apartment under the guise of friendship. Unknown to him, they had already prepared weapons, including a cutlass, chains, and a nailed stick.

In his confessional statement, Ogeneta said the plan was initially to intimidate the victim. However, the situation escalated when they realised he knew personal details about them.

“He knows my family. If we release him, he will expose us,” one of the suspects reportedly said.

The suspects then restrained Adams, recorded videos of him, and later strangled him to death in a dark room. His body was subsequently packed into a bag and transported on a motorcycle to a remote location, where it was dumped in a bush.

Police investigations further uncovered that the suspects had previously carried out a similar crime in November 2025. They allegedly kidnapped a female victim, collected a ₦300,000 ransom from her family, and still killed her afterward.

Commissioner Tijani confirmed that the suspects would be charged to court upon the conclusion of investigations.

He also disclosed that in April 2026 alone, the command arrested 118 suspects across Lagos for crimes including armed robbery, kidnapping, cultism, and vandalism. Several weapons and illicit items were recovered during the operations.

The tragic incident has sparked renewed concern over rising violent crimes among youths and the safety of students, especially during examination periods.