The Lagos State Government on Wednesday opened the trial of Benjamin Best Nnayereugo, widely known as “Killaboi,” over the alleged killing of his girlfriend, Augusta Onuwabhagbe.
Nnayereugo was earlier arraigned on November 17, 2025, before the Lagos State High Court sitting in Igbosere, where he pleaded not guilty to a two-count charge bordering on murder and alleged mutilation of the deceased’s body.
According to the charge, the defendant allegedly stabbed Augusta to death and later tampered with her corpse by cutting open her stomach and removing some body parts.
The offences are said to contravene Sections 165 and 222 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.
At the hearing on Wednesday, the prosecution presented its first witness, Reginald Okonye, the uncle of the deceased and Regional Head of Sales for West and Central Africa at Siemens Energy.
Testifying before the court, Okonye recounted how Augusta’s body was discovered at the defendant’s residence in Oral Estate, located in the Ajah area of Lagos.
He told the court that concerns arose after the deceased’s mother reported that she had been unable to reach her daughter for about three days, while her brother had also expressed worry over her whereabouts.
Okonye said the family subsequently contacted Augusta’s roommate at Lead City University in Ibadan, who advised them to check Nnayereugo’s residence.
He explained that when they arrived at the estate, access to the house was initially denied.
However, with the intervention of police officers, the family eventually gained entry after persuading security personnel.
According to him, they later climbed through an upstairs window with the aid of a ladder, where he discovered Augusta lying lifeless in a pool of blood inside the apartment.
Okonye added that he deliberately avoided raising an alarm immediately in order not to distress the deceased’s mother, noting that the police later evacuated the body to a morgue around 2 a.m.
He also told the court that he had seen social media posts allegedly made by the defendant in which he confessed to killing Augusta following a dispute.
During the proceedings, the prosecution tendered photographs of the deceased and the Ajah residence as evidence.
The trial judge, Ibironke Harrison, admitted the items as exhibits after defence counsel, Marcel Oru, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, reserved his objections.
The case was subsequently adjourned until March 5 for continuation of hearing, when the deceased’s mother is expected to testify.
Nnayereugo had earlier been declared wanted on October 13, 2023, prompting the issuance of an international alert by INTERPOL.
He was first arrested in Freetown, Sierra Leone, on October 20, 2023, under an alleged false identity but later escaped during a prison break.
Authorities said he subsequently travelled using forged identities before he was eventually apprehended in Doha, Qatar, in February 2025 and later extradited to Nigeria in April 2025 to face prosecution.
Following Wednesday’s proceedings, correctional officers shielded the defendant from journalists as he was escorted out of the court premises.
