The Lagos State Government had charged Killaboi in court with two counts: one for indecently interfering with Augusta Onuwabhagbe’s corpse by cutting her stomach and removing her body parts, and another for murder by stabbing.
Prosecutors stated these offences violated sections 165 and 222 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos, 2015.
The defendant, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Led in evidence by Lagos State Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Babajide Martins, the witness also claimed that the defendant escaped from prison on November 26, 2023, following a prison break.
She explained, “Two weeks after the prison break, authorities managed to recapture all prisoners except Benjamin. I still have the video of him leaving prison.”
“Online, I received information about his movements across various countries until he settled in Qatar. With my lawyer, Femi Falana, who helps the vulnerable, he was arrested in Qatar on January 15, 2025.”
“By April 2025, he was extradited back to Nigeria with multiple passports. I hadn’t seen him until I saw him in court yesterday,” she concluded.
Mrs Onuwabhagbe also testified that she was aware of her daughter’s relationship with Killaboi because her daughter introduced him to her.
The witness stated, “I know the defendant very well. On December 1, 2021, my daughter, Augusta, sent me a message saying she was in a romantic relationship with a boy, Benjamin Best Nnayereugo. As a single mother concerned for her safety, I asked her to bring him home, which she did on December 8, 2021.
“When they came, because my daughter said she loved him, I accepted him as a son. He often visited the house to eat, and we would talk, even when Augusta was away at Lead City University, Ibadan, studying Medical Lab Science.
“There was a time, on November 22, 2022, when they travelled out of the country together. I asked Benjamin how he financed the trip, and he said he won the money from Sporty Bet. When I asked why he wasn’t investing it in his business, he explained that he sent some of the money for investment to his Uncle, Okeke Charles, and that the trip expenses were minimal since they travelled economy and kept a low profile.
“Seven days into their vacation, he mercilessly abused and beat my daughter, smashed her phone, and pulled out her hair. He didn’t record the incident at the time, but when she retaliated by throwing pillows at him and calling him a wicked man, he filmed her and sent the video to me.
“After they returned, he came to me, begged, and also went to my son to kneel and plead. He said, ‘Ma, I’m not a violent person, and I won’t do this again.’ He added that if he beat her again, she should leave the relationship. He left thereafter, and Augusta begged us to give him another chance. They continued their relationship, and the violence did not occur again.”
While describing the events leading to her death in July 2023, the witness explained how her daughter felt threatened by the defendant and the actions taken to maintain peace.
She said, “On Tuesday, July 11, 2023, Benjamin called me around 9 or 10pm. He said that since I have been in a relationship with Augusta, she has never cheated on me, but now she is planning to cheat. I asked what happened, and he explained that he impersonated someone else, invited her to Lagos over the phone, and she agreed to meet him.
I then told Benjamin that she was supposed to have finished school and would return home in two weeks, so we could address the issue then. As soon as he hung up, my daughter called to say Benjamin had taken over her Instagram account and logged her out. Because she is an influencer, she begged me to ask him to return the account, promising their relationship would end immediately after. I contacted him, and he returned the account the same day.
On Saturday, July 15, my son called and asked when I last spoke to his sister. I told him I had been chatting with her, but when I called that Saturday morning, she didn’t pick up.
He told me to find her because he had a bad feeling, sensing her shadow and feeling unhappy. He directed me to go to Benjamin’s house. I then told him about her argument with Benjamin, and when I reached out to her around 11pm, she sent a voice message saying Benjamin was threatening her and had sworn on his mother’s grave that he would “show” her.
“I didn’t know Benjamin’s house, so my son reached out to Oyindamola, Augusta’s best friend in school, to take us there. Oyindamola said it would be impossible to enter his estate unless he sends us a code. I then called Augusta’s godmother, Mrs Bankole, whose husband is a military officer, and I arranged for a military man to accompany us. 5 of us went to Oral Estate.
The witness went on to narrate how the group got to the defendant’s house and the incident of July 15, 2023,, when she was allegedly murdered.
