Young Nigerian students gone missing and found in bodies of water in the UK?

[icerink47]

First of all, this is all speculation from the limited information that has been made public via the news. The specifics of the case have been taken from news reports and have been confirmed by their respective police departments.

Between mid September 2020 and early May 2021 (7.5 months), three university students of a very similar profile disappeared mysteriously, to be found tragically deceased in various bodies of water around the UK. As it stands, all three deaths are being treated as 'not suspicious' by law enforcement. This is just a speculation into whether or not these cases may be connected. I want to stress that is a personal opinion and not that of the police. I'm also incredibly sorry if this causes any hurt or offence to anyone close to these individuals (or in general), we only wish to help find some answers.

September 18th 2020.

Blessing Olusegun, 21 years old. A British Nigerian student from South London, at a university unspecified anywhere - but very likely to be a university in Sussex. Last seen on CCTV at 1am on 18/09/20 walking by the harbour but nothing beyond that, and last heard from at 1:25am, (a text to her mother). Her body was found at 6:20am, 5 hours later on a beach in Bexhill, East Sussex. The postmortem concluded she died by drowning. RIP Blessing. More information here:

Blessing Olusegun: Petition demands answers over death

Police insist they investigated Blessing Olusegun's death properly

March 23rd 2021.

Richard Okorogheye, 19 years old. A British Nigerian student from West London studying at Oxford Brookes University. Richard suffered from sickle cell (a severe form of anaemia) and was shielding from COVID due to this. According to Richard's mum, Richard would only leave the house for blood transfusions at the hospital. A brief summary of the night of 22/03/21:

Richard left his home and headed towards Ladbroke Grove at about 8.30pm. Several news sources stated that he told his mum he was going to see a friend --->

He was seen boarding a 23 bus southbound in Ladbroke Grove at 8:44pm (see file attached for the 23 London bus route).

Wherever Richard got off, he boarded a taxi. According to Google maps, the 23 bus route would have taken him between Chepstow, Queensway, Bishop's Road, Paddington, Edgware Road, Marble Arch and Hyde Park, before heading back West. --->

Richard boards a taxi to Loughton, Essex. --->

He is seen walking alone along Smarts Lane, Loughton, towards Epping Forest at 12:39am (see file 2 for this walk on Google Maps).


Since that there has been no further sightings, and his phone has not been in use since his disappearance. In the CCTV footage however Richard appears to be using a phone, looking at it while he's walking. (see files 3-5) for screenshots.



you can watch the 0:20 second clip here:
CCTV footage of Richard Okorogheye

This would indicate he was using a different phone or sim card.

Some other details:

• Richard left without his wallet, bus pass and bank card. This means everything he purchased - a bus journey and a very expensive taxi - were paid for online.
• More importantly, he left without his medication or a jacket, which is very dangerous for someone with sickle cell.
• He was quoted to "Love life, had plans and aspirations".

The interesting thing is Richard's mother, Evidence Joel, says that he has never mentioned Loughton and is shocked he even knew where it was. Furthermore, she said Richard spent a lot of time on his PS5, and quotes she "feels strongly Richard was lured to meet somebody" via chat rooms on his PS5. Find out more here:

Richard Okorogheye's mum says he was 'lured' to death and didn't kill himself

Richard's body was found in a pond in Epping Forest on Monday, 5th April 2021, 14 days after he went missing. RIP Richard.

May 1st 2021.

Olisa Odukwe, 20 years old. A British Nigerian student at the University of Bristol, disappeared on his bike in the early hours of Saturday, 1/05/21. He was last seen leaving his home in Redland. The following timeline is taken from this thread:

UK - UK - Olisa Odukwe, 20, Bristol, 1 May 2021

Olisa left his home in Redland, Bristol at 4am (his phone recorded him cycling through Harbourside at 4am. This is the last recorded location from his phone) ---> He arrived at VShed (Whetherspoons) at 4:18am. (see file 6 for Google maps). He stayed there for some time, unknown if alone or with someone.


---> After this point, his phone is either switched off or thrown away, as there was no activity. ---> He arrives back at his girlfriend's house at 5am ---> He stays for 2 hours, then tells his girlfriend he's "getting up", and leaves on his bike at 7am ---> He is then reported to be seen on the docks, and that is the last sighting of Olisa.

Olisa also went to Leigh Woods, Bristol on the Friday, the day before his disappearance. This was his route (see file 7):



It is unmentioned / unknown why Olisa did this.

Read more here:

More information released in the search for missing Bristol Uni student Olisa Odukwe

His body was recovered on Tuesday, 4/05/21, from Bristol Harbour. 4 days after his disappearance. His phone and bike have not been located. His wallet was left at home. His disappearance has been quoted as "completely out of character". RIP Olisa.

This is incredibly tragic news and especially alarming because the cases seem to follow a pattern;

1. The individuals found deceased are all Nigerian
2. They are all university students
3. They are aged 19 - 21
4. They have all been found in bodies of water around the UK (beach, harbour & lake)
5. Their disappearances were described as out of character
6. All their deaths are currently being treated as not suspicious
7. Either the time they were out or the area they were out in was not usual for them
8. There is only 7 months between the deaths

(Geography)

Again, this is purely speculation, this is not consistent with the views of the police. The police departments investigating these cases - Sussex Police, Essex Police, Met Police and Avon & Somerset Police - are not as it stands considering the line of query that any third party is involved. Personally, it's not something I can rule out.

What do people think about this? I want to repeat I am deeply sorry if this causes any offence to anyone and I wish the friends and families of these individuals love and healing.

 

[AzPistonsGirl]

Well, you've got my ear. It is certainly curious. I am one of those who don't believe in coincidences. But I also know that LE knows a lot more than what is reported. There's got to be a reason the deaths are not linked at all, nor any mention of that possibility. I wonder how you'd even go about learning more or positing a theory. I'm in the states but will keep my eyes on this thread. Hopefully our UKers can weigh in. Like in life, some will agree, some won't. I imagine a wider survey of Nigerian-born immigrants studying in the UK would help too. And what does Nigeria think? That would be interesting to ascertain too. IMO.

 

[icerink47]

Well, you've got my ear. It is certainly curious. I am one of those who don't believe in coincidences. But I also know that LE knows a lot more than what is reported. There's got to be a reason the deaths are not linked at all, nor any mention of that possibility. I wonder how you'd even go about learning more or positing a theory. I'm in the states but will keep my eyes on this thread. Hopefully our UKers can weigh in. Like in life, some will agree, some won't. I imagine a wider survey of Nigerian-born immigrants studying in the UK would help too. And what does Nigeria think? That would be interesting to ascertain too. IMO.

I definitely know the police have been slacking as they've withheld CCTV footage from more than one of the cases, and even though the coroners on the cases cannot definitively confirm that they all committed suicide via drowning the police are treating it at non suspicious. I think the connections haven't been made by the police due to the systemic racism in this country, like you guys have in the US. I concur with you that there will be people who disagree, but one of the main facts to remember for those people is how Blessing's and Richard's mothers have reacted to this immediately claiming there could be foul play, I'm not sure about what Olisa's family think as I don't think they've spoken publicly which is very fair. We'll just have to wait and see. There are also threads on here on them all individually if you wanna learn some more.

 

[Mrs Marple]

It's awful to say but let's see what happens next. I can see the similarities but l'm not sure that Richard can be discounted as a suicide.

All very sad losses for the families involved.

 

[icerink47]

It's awful to say but let's see what happens next. I can see the similarities but l'm not sure that Richard can be discounted as a suicide.

All very sad losses for the families involved.

Hi, at this stage we're not discounting anything, there's no physical evidence to prove either theory and everything I mentioned is circumstantial. The only goal is to urge the police to investigate further, especially to review ALL available CCTV footage and pull phone records. You're right it is incredibly sad and my deepest sympathies are with friends and families of the deceased.

 

[dotr]

Hi, at this stage we're not discounting anything, there's no physical evidence to prove either theory and everything I mentioned is circumstantial. The only goal is to urge the police to investigate further, especially to review ALL available CCTV footage and pull phone records. You're right it is incredibly sad and my deepest sympathies are with friends and families of the deceased.

Welcome to Ws icerink47, thanks for starting this thread!
Had also entertained similar curiosity regarding these deaths, whether suspicious or not, something seems to be going on, imo, speculation.

Have to run atm, but there is another student from Africa who also went missing in the UK. Cannot recall name off-hand, he was wearing a distinctive red jacket iirc.we have a thread for him, will find later unless someone knows who it is, tia.

 

[icerink47]

Welcome to Ws icerink47, thanks for starting this thread!
Had also entertained similar curiosity regarding these deaths, whether suspicious or not, something seems to be going on, imo, speculation.

Have to run atm, but there is another student from Africa who also went missing in the UK. Cannot recall name off-hand, he was wearing a distinctive red jacket iirc.we have a thread for him, will find later unless someone knows who it is, tia.

Thanks for responding! I've seen people speculate about it on social media but good to see people on here have been wondering about it too. I don't think the LE in the UK are doing enough to investigate (basically nothing at this point) these deaths individually let alone talking about if there's any links between them.
Would be good if you or someone you know could find out about the student, I don't suppose it was the boy from Cameroon who ended up in the River Tees? His name was Seth Lysinge. I saw something on him and was wondering if it was linked, there was also a boy in Huddersfield as well called Kamau McCallum-James but again this is all speculation and both could be a coincidence.

 

[Kitkat28]

Welcome to Ws icerink47, thanks for starting this thread!
Had also entertained similar curiosity regarding these deaths, whether suspicious or not, something seems to be going on, imo, speculation.

Same here, especially with the confirmation of Olisa’s identity in the news this week.

@dotr was it Tapi Matuwi you were thinking of?

 

[icerink47]

Update:

I have used Google maps to match where Richard got off from the taxi to establish his walk into Epping Forest. We know he was seen walking along Smarts Lane but we weren't able to map where he got off until now.




He got off at the corner connecting Smarts Lane and High Beech Road



He is seen walking past the red postbox, which would take him up to Epping Forest.



Another thing I've pieced together: Sky News claims Richard took a 20 mile taxi here:

Richard Okorogheye: Body found by police in Epping Forest lake confirmed as missing student

I input Smarts Lane into Google maps (as that is where the taxi journey ended) and if he got off between Paddington Station and Marble Arch, that makes it around 21 miles in a car, confirming what I said in the original post about where he may have vacated the bus.

Not sure if this helps at all, but might mean there is more CCTV that could be looked at.

 

[dotr]

Same here, especially with the confirmation of Olisa’s identity in the news this week.

@dotr was it Tapi Matuwi you were thinking of?

Bingo, thanks!
UK - UK - Tapiwa ”Tapi“ Russell Matuwi, 21, Fiction nightclub, Swansea, South Wales, 7 Feb 2019

 

[Mrs Marple]

I remember thinking with Richard if mental health was at play as he was shielding , the timing was odd. With vaccines around the corner etc

But l guess you never know with mental health.

So sad for his mum.

It's a lon g way to go to take your own life. He could have changed his mind in that time frame.

 

[icerink47]

I remember thinking with Richard if mental health was at play as he was shielding , the timing was odd. With vaccines around the corner etc

But l guess you never know with mental health.

So sad for his mum.

It's a lon g way to go to take your own life. He could have changed his mind in that time frame.

It's incredibly sad for his mum, and the way in which the London Met treated her was disgraceful.
And yeah I've heard a lot of people share those thoughts, it's such a long journey you'd think he might exit London the other way rather than travelling from west all the way out to Essex. From what I've gathered he didn't have any friends his mum knew of that were from Essex and knew little about the area so there's a chance that the new person he was speaking to was the one to talk to him about it??
I'm wondering, if these deaths are linked, is this person finding them through what uni they go to or what societies they're part of at uni etc because there are normally Facebook groups or other socials for those things

 

[icerink47]

Made this map to show all cases of young black people disappearing and being found in bodies of water from 2019 - 2021. (You'll need to zoom in to see the names and dates).

 

[dotr]

Made this map to show all cases of young black people disappearing and being found in bodies of water from 2019 - 2021. (You'll need to zoom in to see the names and dates).

Good one, thanks!

 

[icerink47]

Hi guys, I found another possible case, his name is Orlando Nyero:

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/orlando-nyero-canal-death-inquest-16139752

I will post more once I look into it more. It does mention he had alcohol in his system but I went to university in a coastal town when I was younger and I know that plenty of people get drunk around water all the time and turn out fine so it doesn't necessarily rule out foul play for me personally. What do you guys think?

 

[icerink47]

Hi guys, I found another possible case, his name is Orlando Nyero:

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/orlando-nyero-canal-death-inquest-16139752

I will post more once I look into it more. It does mention he had alcohol in his system but I went to university in a coastal town when I was younger and I know that plenty of people get drunk around water all the time and turn out fine so it doesn't necessarily rule out foul play for me personally. What do you guys think?

New map:

 

[cherrymeg]

@icerink47 Thanks for starting this thread. There needs to be media attention on these cases, they don't seem like they can all be accidents.

 

[Mrs Marple]

It's such a wide geographical area though.

What links them is the university in particular. IF there is something nefarious at play here, this is could be how he is getting access and selecting victims.

Although Richard was shielding...still there would be Zoom contact. So what kind of role would someone have that would enable them to move around in that way and access students?

 

[icerink47]

It's such a wide geographical area though.

What links them is the university in particular. IF there is something nefarious at play here, this is could be how he is getting access and selecting victims.

Although Richard was shielding...still there would be Zoom contact. So what kind of role would someone have that would enable them to move around in that way and access students?

You're right, it is quite wide, however it's not unheard of for people to commit murders in different parts of the country, in fact this way there's a stronger likelihood of evading law enforcement (often times police departments don't communicate with each other which makes it hard to spot links). If we factor in how big America is, for example, and the fact that many serial killers committed their crimes across states, it's not unimaginable for this to be the case here. But I totally agree that the university status is one of the strongest links, along with ethnicity, age and being found in water.

r.e. Zoom:- Yes, I'm personally of the belief that if this is the result of foul play, then the perpetrator is accessing these students through social media platforms like Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. I've thought of the possibility of the perp infiltrating some university group chats maybe? And Richard's mum said he spent a lot of time on his Playstation, seemingly interacting with somebody who she thinks lured him to Essex. I know you can chat online on games consoles so maybe he got to know this person on there? Honestly it's so hard to be sure of anything at this stage because police have released such limited information.

 

[icerink47]

Hi guys, just had a few thoughts this morning. Does anyone have much knowledge on chloroform? If this is foul play, I've been exploring the idea of the perpetrator (if there is one) subduing these people using chloroform, but I do not personally have a chemistry background so I can't say for sure.

As chloroform can just be inhaled to achieve sedative effects and doesn't have to be ingested, I have read somewhere that once it leaves your system it does not always necessarily show up in a toxicology exam. Again, I have no chemistry or pharmacy experience so if anyone on here is knowledgable on this drug please don't hesitate to correct me. It was just a thought, that I theorised could account for no marks, evidence of assault, or any drugs in their system for all three initial cases.

On a separate note, I was thinking of the Tapiwa Matuwi case and reviewing the CCTV footage that has been made available to the public:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-wales-47589049

At 0:37 seconds in, he walks into his uni accommodation and walks straight back out, before heading off on his own towards the yacht club, not to be seen again. Anyone have any idea as to why he did this? His movements seem a bit odd to me personally. His body has also never been recovered.

What do people think? I welcome all ideas unless they disrespect the deceased in any way.