1st May, 2015
The United Kingdom has praised Nigeria Police for ensuring that justice is served in the murder case against Jeffery Okafor, 24, who fled the UK to Nigeria after stabbing and killing CBBC actor Carl Beatson Asiedu in Vauxhall in August 2009.
Okafor who was convicted of murder was extradited by the Nigeria Police after rigorous search for him. He was sent back to the UK in November 2014 and was yesterday found guilty of murder.
In a tweet by the British High Commission in Nigeria, it praised the Nigerian Police for their cooperation. “Nigerian Jeffrey Okafor convicted for murder in London today after good cooperation with @PoliceNG and FGN to track, arrest & extradite him,” the tweet read.
Nigerian Jeffrey Okafor convicted for murder in London today after good cooperation with @PoliceNG and FGN to track, arrest & extradite him.
— UK in Nigeria (@UKinNigeria) April 30, 2015
Okafor, was reported to have attacked Asiedu when a late-night row escalated into violence. The court was told he confessed to his girlfriend before fleeing to Nigeria using his brother’s passport.
Beatson Asiedu, who appeared in the CBBC series M.I. High, was also a part-time DJ known as DJ Charmz.
DNA found on gloves
On the night he was killed he was with friends and had performed a set at the Club Life nightclub near Vauxhall station. Outside the club he and his friends were approached by a larger group of men, which included Okafor, and an argument broke out.
The court heard it was at this time the DJ became separated from his friends and was stabbed by Okafor.
A post-mortem examination concluded the cause of Mr Beatson Asiedu’s death was a single stab wound to the front of the chest.
Sarah Whitehouse QC, prosecuting, told Woolwich Crown Court: “After the attack, Jeffrey Okafor actually confessed to a girlfriend that he had stabbed Carl Beatson.”
Okafor confessed in a phone call within an hour of the attack and days later he told the same woman that he had stabbed the DJ in the stomach.
She said he gave her a pair of black gloves to look after which were later passed to police.
DNA which may have come from the victim was found on one of the gloves.
The prosecution said four days later Okafor boarded a flight from Heathrow Airport to Lagos using his brother’s passport.
He was extradited from Nigeria in November.
Okafor, of East Dulwich, south-east London, is due to be sentenced on Friday.