Four young men were on Monday remanded at Kirikiri Maximum Prisons on the orders of an Ikeja High Court for allegedly murdering a car hire driver and robbing him of his car and other valuables.

The accused — Anthony Tams, 20; Godwin Francis, 25; Michael Inyang, 21; and Evidence David, 22 — are facing a three-count charge of conspiracy to commit robbery, armed robbery and murder.

They, however,  denied the charges.

According to the state prosecution team led by Mr Akin George, the accused allegedly murdered Mr Sonye Chukwudi, a 32-year-old car hire driver and father of four at about 8.30 p.m. on June 21, 2015 at Ransome-Kuti Gardens, Anthony Village, Lagos.

“Tams, one of the defendants, lured Chukwudi to Ransome-Kuti Gardens under the guise of buying flowers.

“The other defendants, ambushed and tied Chukwudi as well as dispossessed him of his white Mercedes Benz E320 car with registration no. MUS86CB he used for his car hire business.

“The defendants also stole his Nokia mobile phone and N4,750 cash.

“After robbing Chukwudi, the defendants beat him to death with shovels and disposed of his body in a nearby bush,” he told the court.

George said luck, however, was not on their side as the defendants could not drive the stolen vehicle from the crime scene.

“The asked an unnamed man for help in driving the stolen vehicle from the crime scene.

“Suspicious of their intentions, he tipped off  the authorities which led to their arrests,” he said.

The offences violated Sections 221, 295 (2), (a) and 297 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2011.

Justice Josephine Oyefeso adjourned the case to May 18 for trial.