The mother of late 21-year-old Augusta Onuwaghagbe, who was allegedly murdered by her boyfriend Benjamin Best Nnayelugo, also known as Killaboi, in July 2023, has denied claims during cross-examination that her daughter was violent and unfaithful during the relationship.
Witness Testimony
Cordelia Onuwaghagbe is the second witness for the state government prosecuting the murder trial, with Killaboi as the sole defendant. At the last court sitting in March, while being led to give her evidence-in-chief by the Lagos State Director of Public Prosecutions, Babajide Martins, the witness testified about episodes of violence by the defendant on her daughter and that he had already confessed to her that he committed the crime before absconding.
Cross-Examination Details
At the resumed hearing on Tuesday, the witness was called back for cross-examination. While being questioned by lead defence counsel Marcel Oru (SAN), she told Justice Ibironke Harrison of the Lagos State High Court sitting at the JIC Courthouse, Igbosere, that the defendant came around to her house regularly while dating her daughter, but that she never knew he was a killer.
The deceased's mother said the pair had first travelled to Mauritius when they started dating and spent about five days there. Thereafter, they travelled to Seychelles for another vacation, and it was during the nine-day trip that they had a fight. According to her, Augusta took up some content jobs while on the trip, and her boyfriend helped with taking videos of her.
The witness denied that the fight ensued because Augusta was recording herself virtually naked, but said she was only dancing and recording herself before the defendant collected her phone angrily and smashed it on the floor. She also denied that her daughter destroyed hotel property during the Seychelles trip, with the defendant paying about four thousand dollars for the damages.
Further Denials
Under further cross-examination, the witness denied that the deceased was dating one Melvin at the time or indulging in hookup sexual relations, which allegedly led to the end of their relationship. She said she did not raise her daughter that way.
The witness added that the defendant took the iPhone he bought for the deceased after allegedly killing her. She also denied that her daughter stabbed him during a fight, saying the wound on his hand was self-inflicted during his attack on the deceased that led to her death.
Financial Transactions
When asked whether she knew that the defendant paid the deceased's school fees twice in 2022 and 2023, totalling more than N1.2 million, she said she did not know. Ms. Onuwaghagbe also told the court that the defendant gave her monies totalling N1.175 million as gifts at various intervals.
She stated: "On December 8, 2021, upon their return from their trip, he gave me N60,000. On July 27, 2022, I posted online that I needed a phone for my ministry; he sent me N100,000, another person sent N100,000, and another sent N20,000. In January 2023, he gave me N15,000 to buy a recharge card. Later, he sent one million naira to my account, saying my prayers for him were working and that his business was booming. But I did not spend it and saved it in the cooperative instead. Later, in November 2023, someone reached out to tell me he knows where my daughter's killer is but that I must pay him. So I forwarded the one million naira to the person."
Case Continuation
Hearing continues today, Thursday, April 23. The defendant is charged with two counts of Augusta Onuwaghagbe's murder, to which he has pleaded not guilty. Augusta, the second child of her single mother, was a 400-level student studying Medical Laboratory Sciences at Lead City University, Ibadan, Oyo State, and was an online influencer before her death.
