Tagbo Umeike, who reportedly died from suffocation and alcohol poisoning after his birthday party at Shisha Lounge in Lekki, Lagos on October 2, was finally buried in his family compound in Anambra State on Friday.
According to a new report by Daily Sun, some of the suspects who were detained after interrogation at the Police State Criminal Investigation Department in Panti, have told the police that they dumped Tagbo’s body and fled the hospital when the doctor on duty confirmed that he was dead for fear of being treated as suspects.
Some of the suspects who are in custody are Davido’s police security detail, Tunde Yussuf, as well as his friends Busari Idris and Agbeja Olaoye all of who completely exonerated Davido.
According to Yussuf, who is a spy policeman, he was posted to work for Davido as part of his security details. He said that on the day of the unfortunate incident, they had gone to a party with the pop star at a club known as Shisha Room where they met Tagbo already drunk.
After spending some time, they moved to Oniru beach where Fuji music star, Wasiu Ayinde was to perform at a birthday party that night.
According to him, they expected Tagbo to go home since he was already drunk but was surprised that he followed them to that place too. Moments later, one of Davido’s boys informed them that Tagbo was not okay.
He said Davido then requested that they should take one of his Hilux vehicles and follow those taking Tagbo to the hospital. As soon as they got there, the boys who took Tagbo to the hospital rushed in to call the police.
“He was still in the car when the doctor came out and checked him and then said that he is dead. Moments later, the boys came out and told me that it was time to get out of the hospital.”
The second suspect Olaoye who was in the car with Tagbo before he died told the police that he fled when the doctor confirmed him dead to avoid being treated as his killer.
According to him, Tagbo was at the party long before Davido arrived and there was so much free drinks. “He demanded for a drink known as tequila and probably to show that he can consume a lot and still stay sane, took several shots of the drink.
"As at the time Davido wanted to leave the party for another one, Tagbo was already drunk and violent. Davido who was concerned about his plight offered to carry him in his car but was advised against it because he was drunk and misbehaving.
"They advised him to go home but he insisted that he was going to the beach party with them. He then joined their car which was part of the convoy. It was while they were there that he started screaming and gasping for breath.”
At that point, he said they contacted Davido through the boys who were around him and they were told that Davido asked that he should be taken to the hospital immediately. On their way, he also noticed that one of Davido’s security men followed them to the hospital.
Olaoye insists that Tagbo was still breathing when they arrived at the hospital. They ran into the hospital requesting that there was an emergency, unfortunately by the time the doctor arrived, Tagbo had died.
They were then asked to fill a from to enable the hospital prepare his death certificate. They were able to get his international passport to get his correct name and age. “The doctor then said that people in-charge of such case were coming and that we should wait and meet them before the corpse can be kept in the mortuary.”
Olaoye knew that they were referring to the police, so they all decided to run away from the hospital. They quickly jumped into the Hillux driven by Davido’s security detail and left the hospital. They also tried calling Davido to let him know the outcome of their trip to the hospital but his phones were switched off. Everyone of them retired to their various houses with the hope that by the next day they would help trace Tagbo’s family members.
Insisting that they are all innocent, Olaoye told the police that they ran away that night because in Nigeria, “even if it is clear that you had nothing to do with the death of someone, as long as you were at the scene, they will lock you up and accuse you of murder.”
Busari Idris who was also in the car on the day of the unfortunate incident also confirmed Olaoye’s statement. He said that they only knew his details from the international passport found in his wallet.
According to him, Tagbo was gasping for breath and screaming that his stomach was burning. He said they had no choice but to rush him to the hospital, adding that he was still breathing when they got to the hospital but lost him before the doctor could come to check him that night which was around 3am the next day.
“When the doctor said that we have to wait for the police, we knew the implication, that was why we fled the scene.”