12/11/2025
This is a Real life story that will break your heart in many pieces. I watched the 30 minutes video posted by VDM and decided to sum it up because it is important you read and discuss this with your family.
Justus is an alumnus of Imo State University who graduated in 2022. While he was in school, his sister, Thecla had a flourishing business. They were all living in Ajegunle and their mother is a nurse who has a small clinic.
While Justus was in school, Thecla went into phone accessories business. She was selling phones, power banks, gadgets, etc and she decided to relocate the family from Ajegunle to the island but around Sangotedo.
After graduation and coming home, Justus was going to the sister's shop to help her out. Then one day, he asked about his friend. His friend's name is Ediri. He reached out to Ediri and asked how life was. Ediri said, "Life hard. Things really, really hard for me. You know, I don't get anything where they do. It really, really difficult." Since they grew up together in Ajegunle and lived close since they were about 13 or 14 years old, Justus offered to talk to his sister to see if Ediri could come and live with them and be going to the shop with him to sell the phone accessories.
Justus spoke to his sister and she refused and said they were okay and didn't need any extra hands. Justus then involved their father to plead with Thecla. Their father knew Ediri's parents as they all lived in Ajegunle years ago and the father saw Ediri as his own son. Since Ediri was going through a lot and suffering, they begged Thecla to accept Ediri to come and stay with them. She finally agreed.
Ediri came and started going to the shop with Justus. Justus had applied for a job at International Breweries in Ogun State. He applied for the job in October, 2 months after he came back from school in 2022. He got the job and had to move to Ogun State, leaving Ediri to continue working for his sister. Around January 2023, he called Ediri and told him that he earns around ₦400,000 every month and was very close to his boss. So he offered to put in a kind word for Ediri so he can also get a job and come to Ogun State so they could both continue the hustle.
Around February, Justus called Ediri and told him he had secured an interview for him so he should make plans to come to the factory. Ediri came to Ogun State for the interview and Justus told him they won't see until the end of work as he may not have access to his phone during working hours. He however told Ediri where to get his house keys so he could go home and wait for him after the interview.
When Justus got back, he didn't see Ediri so he called and Ediri said he had to rush back to Lagos to inform Thecla he got the job and she needs to start looking for someone else to assist her at the shop. Justus was happy and wished him well.
Everything was going well until March. The younger sister of Justus and Thecla living in Bayelsa called Justus and told him that a friend had called Thecla and heard a strange man's voice in the background and that voice didn't sound like Thecla's fiancé. Thecla was not taking her calls, so Justus called Ediri to find out what was happening. Ediri said Thecla left on Monday, returned on Wednesday to pick her things and travelled. Justus reached out to his sister's fiancé and he said he had not spoken with her for a while so had no idea but will try calling her.
They tried calling her again on Thursday and she was not picking. So Justus asked Ediri to go to the police station and put in a report for a missing person. Ediri declined going to the police insisting a lawyer told him only a relative can put in a report for a missing person. Justus decided to go to Lagos and make the report himself. Ediri said Thecla travelled with their eldest sister who is cancerous to go and meet their mother at the clinic at Ajegunle where she (the mother) worked.
Justus made the report at the station and the police agreed to investigate the matter, so he returned home.
Justus asked neighbours who sold things in the neighbourhood if they saw Thecla and they said yes, with their record contradicting what Ediri had said. One of the neighbours also told Justus that Thecla had complained about Ediri stealing her money, over ₦900,000. Thecla did not want to arrest Ediri so she agreed with the neighbour to get an officer to pressure Ediri to stop stealing.
So it became obvious Ediri lied.
Faced with this new information, police arrested Ediri. Further investigation uncovered that Ediri had used Thecla's money to pay rent on a new house. Police eventually found Thecla's phone at the new property, confirming that Ediri had been impersonating her and transferring funds to his own account.
Ediri confessed to killing Thecla during an argument by pushing her and then disposing of her body. However, the police later discovered the truth. Ediri had dismembered Techla’s body and hidden it in a bush.
This tragedy was compounded by their mother's subsequent death from shock after learning the truth about Thecla's passing and the death of their cancer stricken sister. Ediri was charged to court without the family's knowledge and has been in prison. He has a court hearing on 12 November and the family is getting involved to ensure justice is served to avoid Ediri getting released.
As you open your door to strangers and old friends, be careful and watchful. Let your generosity not be the end of you.
Copied from Martin Beck Nworah
