How popular musician lured, murdered two bureau-de-change operators

Police in Lagos are currently on the manhunt for one Collins Etaredafe, popularly known as Top Boy, who has gone into hiding after being linked to the killing of two-yet-to-be-identified Bureau-De-Change operators at his residence in the Lekki area of Lagos State.

The PUNCH is reporting that the musician, was with a yet-to-be-identified friend, invited the BDC operators into his apartment on March 18, the same day of the governorship and House of Assembly election, under the guise of changing some dollars, but ended up killing them and subsequently dumped their bodies in a drainage located in front of his residence.

The report, quoted a facility manager in the area, Paul Omotosho, as saying the agent in charge of the building informed him that some neighbours, upon discovering the corpses in the drainage, traced some drops of blood to the apartment of the musician.

Omotosho, who is currently in detention narrated his experience thus: “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.”

Omotosho, who said he was at home when the agent in charge of the singer’s apartment had been living in the place of his mother, called to inform him that he had allegedly killed the BDC operators, added further: “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 locate Etaredafe’s whereabouts, I contacted his girlfriend who said she did not know any address of his relatives. 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.”

Omotosho, who was invited for questioning, by operatives of the Lagos State Police Command, attached to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Yaba, has been in detention since Friday, alongside two other agents that helped him to secure the apartment.

Benjamin Hundeyin, Superintendent of Police and spokesman of the command, who confirmed the incident, was quoted in the report as saying: “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.”