How did Alani Ogundipe die? UK Police probes death of British-born Nigerian

The British Police has said it is reviewing the case involving the late Alanis Ogundipe who committed suicide after being allegedly blackmailed by her boyfriend, Ryan Leggetts.

A Detective Inspector, Jonny Dyer of Great Manchester Police, made the disclosure, last Friday, in response to an inquiry by PUNCH Metro on the status of the investigation.

Dyer, who is currently handling the case, said the police were in correspondence with the family.

He said, “I am confirming receipt of your email as requested. I have been asked to review this investigation and I am in correspondence with Oladapo Ogundipe. The review is still ongoing and when completed, Oladapo Ogundipe and his family will be updated.”

The twenty six-year-old Alanis was said to have jumped into a moving train on May 29 at a train station in Manchester.

The incident happened after Leggets allegedly broke into her phone, copied her documents and threatened to reveal her private information to the public.

Alani’s father, Oladapo Ogundipe, who raised the alarm over the circumstances that led to her daughter’s death, said Leggetts went further to make financial demands from her.

He said, “Ryan met my daughter in June 2022 and less than one month into the relationship, he already said he wanted to marry her and took her to his mother. As the director of my company, we planned to send her 100,000 pounds meant for a particular investment in the UK. When Ryan perhaps knew about this, he started asking for her bank statements on May 13 and started shouting at her. After she refused to give it to him, he waited till May 28, 2023, after he had found out that her passport was required for this money to be sent.

“That was how he broke into her phone on May 28 around 10 am while she was asleep and started to use the information he copied to blackmail her. He also made her apologise to him and now used the apology to get to her agree in writing that she was going to pay him the coerced debt she owed her.”

Oladapo said because he did not endorse the relationship, Alanis had to call her mother, Josephine to inform her of the issue she had with Ryan.

He said, “The mother drove to meet her in Manchester on the evening of May 28 where she heard her daughter’s discussion with Ryan as he was getting her to agree with his terms. On May 29, Alanis said she was scared that she would lose her social group and then relunctantly agreed to Ryan’s payment terms. She committed suicide four hours later.”

Oladapo said he didn’t know what transpired until after her daughter had died. He also disclosed that it was after the incident that Leggetts shared a series of information that revealed how he broke into her phone without a password.

The bereaved father, however, expressed concern about the feedback he got from the Great Manchester Police after sharing the information with them.

He said his wife, who witnessed the conversation had not been invited, and neither was Leggetts arrested, adding that the police only based their findings on Leggetts’ statement.

While speaking to our correspondent on Wednesday, Oladapo said Dyer had just confirmed the receipt of the evidence sent to him by the family.

“Dyer had just confirmed the receipt of the evidence and our contact number, which we sent to him. We are waiting for the outcome of his review,” he said.

“Dyer has confirmed the receipt of the evidence and our contact number which we sent to him. The British Transport Police also said they will review the associated incident logs in relation to my daughters sad death as well as the information which was recorded and passed to Great Manchester Police. We are waiting for the outcome of the review.”

Punch