Nigerian student killed over fake Rolex debt in UK

The court handling the case of a murdered Nigerian student, Khaleed Oladipo, has heard that he was allegedly killed by a former friend over money related to a fake Rolex watch.

Khaleed Oladipo, 20, a third-year student at De Montfort University, was talking to his girlfriend when he was attacked on Oxford Street in Leicester on February 3. The accused, 18-year-old Harper Dennis, who studies at the University of Leicester, denies the murder charge.

Prosecutor Jane Osborne KC told Leicester Crown Court that Oladipo and Dennis were once friends after meeting through online gaming. Their friendship soured over money issues.

“They had previously been friends. But there had been a falling out, seemingly over money that, at the very least, Harper Dennis perceived was owed to him by Khaleed Oladipo,” Osborne said.

The court heard that the argument started after Dennis tried to sell a fake Rolex that Oladipo allegedly gave him. Prosecutors said Dennis thought Oladipo owed him £3,000 after a jeweller rejected the watch.

Osborne claimed that Dennis confronted Oladipo outside the De Montfort University Innovation Centre. They struggled for a short time before Oladipo was stabbed.

“It would seem the perceived debt was the reason that Harper Dennis attacked Khaleed Oladipo in the street on the 3rd of February,” the prosecutor told the court.

Oladipo suffered six stab wounds, five of which were to his chest, with one piercing his heart. The court learned that he was still on the phone with his girlfriend during the attack and asked, “Why did you come up and stab me?”

The prosecution also said that Dennis made threatening calls to Oladipo’s girlfriend before the murder and sent messages saying he would make Oladipo suffer.

Dennis was arrested shortly after the incident. He also faces charges for possessing a bladed article and not providing the PIN for his mobile phone.

The trial, which is expected to last three weeks, is still ongoing.