LAGOS, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- A musician, Collins Etaredafe, aka Top Boy, is on the run, after allegedly killing two yet-to-be-identified Bureau De Change operators at his residence in the Lekki area of Lagos State.
PUNCH reports that Etaredafe, along with his friend (unidentified), invited the BDC operators into his apartment on 18 March under the pretense of changing some dollars.
Following their entry into the building, it was discovered that the BDC operators had reportedly been murdered with their bodies deposited in a drainage system in front of Etaredafe’s house.
A facility manager in the area, Paul Omotosho, while speaking with Journalists, said the agent in charge of the building had brought the incidence to his notice, after the suspect’s neighbours had discovered the corpses in the drainage and traced some drops of blood to Etaredafe’s apartment.
Adding that he was at home when he got the information from the agent.
Omotosho said, “I knew Etaredafe through his girlfriend, Evelyn, about three years ago when she contacted me that he needed an apartment. That was how he got my number. He called me, said he stays in Delta State, and that he wants to book a short-let apartment. That was how he became a regular client.
“Sometimes he would claim he does not know Lagos and will send money to my account to help him get some items and send them to him. In February 2022, he said he wanted to secure an apartment where his mum would be living in Lagos; he said he wanted to surprise her with the apartment as she has not been to Lagos before.
“I had to reach out to a fellow agent who assisted me in getting the apartment. After that, the agent sent me a form to fill in the details of the occupant but when I asked for the details of his mum, he said she did not have any means of identification. Out of the trust I had for him as a regular client, I foolishly provided someone’s details to keep the place for him and since then, my thinking is that his mother had moved in.”
He said, “The agent called me that Etaredafe had killed two people in his apartment. He also said he dumped their corpses outside the gate and ran away.
“The agent said the blood of the deceased victims was traced to his apartment and later discovered that the people the musician killed were Bureau-De-Change operators. I was told he invited them to his apartment because he wanted to change dollars before killing them.”
In a bid to find out Etaredafe’s hideout, Omotosho said he contacted his girlfriend who said she did not know any address of his relatives.
He said, “She later called me on Monday and asked if I heard that Etaredafe killed two people in his house and ran away. She said they only met on social media and she does not know where he or his family lives.”
Videos of the corpses being recovered from the drainage were reportedly recorded and circulated online.
In the viral video, a voice in the background was heard lamenting over the events that led to the death of the victims.
“This Topboy threw these two men outside the gate of the estate after he killed them. He called himself an artiste,” the voice partly said.
However, during an investigation by the State Criminal Investigation Department in Yaba, Omotosho was invited for questioning after which he was detained alongside two other agents that helped him to secure the apartment for Etaredafe.
The State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed the incident.
He said, “The main suspects are on the run. No part of the deceased victims’ bodies was cut off. The case is at the SCID and is progressing. The security man is in custody and is assisting with the investigation.”
