For hiring a building artisan, 32-year-old Alex Kehinde, to renovate one of his properties about a month ago, 80-year-old Peter Keborkwuhe had no idea he was only employing the services of his own gravedigger
Available reports indicate that authorities in Delta State are investigating the fatal incident that began as a routine transaction in the Ogwashi-Ukwu area, near Asaba, the Delta State capital.
However, discrepancies have emerged regarding the location, with local sources contradicting official police reports by identifying neighbouring Isele-Azagba as the true site of the incident
This is as police reports stated that acting with his accomplice, one Egbon ID, who is currently at large, Kehinde kidnapped the unsuspecting landlord on his own property. Unfortunately, what both craftsmen hatched as a simple plans to make quick money turned awry as the octogenarian Keborkwu later died of suffocation in their custody.
The Police Public Relations Officer, SP Bright Edafe, who gave an update on the investigation at the Anti-Kidnap and Cybercrime Unit of the Delta State Police Command, disclosed that Kehinde was arrested in Lagos where he had fled to squander his N1 million share of the ransom which they collected from Keborkwu’s son even after the old man had died.
A Heinous Crime
According SP Edafe, the victim was discovered on 3rd February, 2026 seated dead in an upstairs kitchen where the suspects had held him captive in the renovated property.
The Delta PPRO, who cited the suspect’s confessional statement, explained that the incident began a month prior in Ogwashi-Ukwu, when the octogenarian employed Kehinde to renovate a house for rental purposes, adding, “After negotiations, the landlord mobilised the artisan with N200,000. He then kept pressure on him to engage more hands to deliver the job on time and he got the additional labourers.
“On completion of the job, he (Kehinde) settled the extra hands engaged on the project and needed the outstanding payment to settle himself and the accomplice now at large.
“According to him, because they needed money and their payment was not ready, the accomplice sold him the idea of kidnapping their client so that money could come. One day, Keborkwu visited the site, and they lured him upstairs, saying there was a plumbing issue they needed him to see. After he followed them upstairs, they held the homeowner and forced him to sit down.
“When the abductee tried to raise his voice in alarm, they shoved a piece of work foam into his mouth and tied it, covering his nose to silence him. He suffocated to death. Leaving him dead in the building, the partners in crime made away with Keborkwu’s motorcycle and phone and went to Ogbe Ogonogo in Asaba, the state capital. They removed the SIM card, sold the phone for N30,000, and left the bike elsewhere.
“Thereafter, they inserted the SIM card into another phone and called the victim’s son, claiming they had kidnapped his father. They successfully collected a N2 million ransom from the son, even after killing Mr. Keborkwu.”
Kehinde’s Confession
Kehinde, while corroborating the PPRO’s report, explained that after being introduced to the victim by an engineer, he and his partner, Egbon, decided to kidnap him out of desperate financial need, saying: “I got connected to the man (the victim) through one engineer. After the work, we desperately needed money. Egbon, the guy that worked with me, brought the idea of kidnapping.
“That day we took him (the house owner) upstairs in the guise of showing him a leaking pipe. Then we held him. He started shouting. Because we didn’t want neighbours to hear, my guy used foam to seal his mouth. We didn’t notice he was dead. He started shaking before we ran downstairs. Egbon brought his phone to meet me downstairs, then his bike. We sold the phone at Ogbe Ogonogo for N30,000.”
Further hinting that his partner was pulling the strings in the deadly operations, Kehinde confessed, “I don’t remember how much ransom we demanded from the son. I only know we were given N2 million. I and the guy (Egbon) shared the money, N1 million each. I have already exhausted my share. I was arrested in Lagos.”
Meanwhile, the Police Spokesman, SP Edafe has assured that there is no hiding place for the accomplice still at large as the Command intends to hunt him down, adding that every means necessary would be deployed to apprehend everyone involved in committing the heinous crime.
