Facebook user shares misleading picture of man, claimed he killed musicians in Lagos’ studio 

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Elizabeth Ogunbamowo

Claim: A Facebook user, Mpa Kelechi, shared the picture of a man and alleged he was the supposed killer of four gospel musicians who recently died in a studio in Ajah, Lagos.

Verdict: False! The image shows Kondwani Banda, a social media sensation in Zambia, who was allegedly arrested for making derogatory remarks about certain personalities in the country.

Full Text

Recently, the Nigerian social media space went agog following the death of a gospel musician and three others in a studio at the Ajah area of Lagos state.

Multiple reports confirmed that the victims — gospel artiste Matthew Ogundele, Itunu Ogundele, Joseph Sanya, and blogger Matthew Awosanya, popularly known as JoesTv—were found lifeless in a studio located within the HFP Shopping Complex, Abraham Adesanya axis of Ajah.

These reports noted that the victims had been invited to sing on the second day of a three-day birthday praise event organised by another gospel artiste, Olanireti Akinbola.

In a shocking turn, however, the four did not survive. Social media users have since called for an investigation into the matter. 

DUBAWA observed that there have been speculations on social media about what could have caused the deaths. 

Some users claimed the death may have been caused by generator fumes, while others insinuated it was food poisoning. There were also those who said it may be a case of a violent attack against the victims.

Pictures circulating online showed blood traces and mucus in the noses of some of the victims. 

Amid this, Facebook users shared the picture of a man in black with dishevelled hair, claiming he was arrested in connection with the deaths.

In the text accompanying the picture, the users claimed the suspect confessed to poisoning the food of one of the victims, who was his close friend, but had refused to help him when he was in need.

Part of the caption reads, “The guy in the black t-shirt pöisöned 3 of them, but thank God he has been arrested.  After his arrest, they questioned him about why he did that. He replied that in 2025, he had a financial problem and asked his friend to assist him, but his friend only sent him 500k out of the 5 million problem he explained to him, and his anger was that Segun was worth more than the 500k he sent to him…”

The posts’ comment sections showed that many users believed the story and ran with it.  For instance, Ebere Rita commented, “A whole 500k was given to you, yet you were not thankful, you see why I avoid people with entitlement spirit.”

Israel Odili said, “I decided to be a lone ranger, and I received the peace that passes all understanding and misunderstanding.”

Due to the sensitive nature of the issue and the potential impact of the claim, DUBAWA probed the viral image.

Verification 

We conducted a reverse image search of the photo, and the results showed that the young man in it is not connected to the case. The man, identified as Kondwani Banda, is a Zambian who was allegedly arrested in connection with a defamation case.

Popular blogs in Zambia claimed Banda, known as Uncle Koko, made derogatory remarks about a couple who then orchestrated his arrest in Kenya, where he allegedly flew to.

Further checks also showed that the picture is circulating only on blogs in the country, as neither the police nor the Zambian authorities have issued a comment to address the narrative surrounding the social media sensation.

Recall that the Lagos State police command earlier confirmed the death of the four victims in the Ajah studio. The police said the case was reported by the studio’s owner, Akintayo Akinbola, who is also the celebrant’s husband.

Adebisi Abimbola, the police spokesperson in Lagos, noted that a suspect has been arrested, but no image of the suspect was shared. Adebisi clarified that there were no visible signs of violence on the victims, so an autopsy would be conducted to determine the cause of death.

Conclusion 

The viral image of a suspect linked to the death of four people in a Lagos studio is misleading. The image is of a Zambian, Kondwani Banda.