The incident
happened on Sunday at No. 4 Sebil Kazeem Street in the Ikotun area of Lagos
State.
Temitayo was
said to have been beaten to a pulp by a mob before the intervention of
policemen from the Ikotun Police Station.
The remains
of the victim were deposited in a morgue for autopsy.
PUNCH Metro
gathered that trouble started when a resident of the house, one Banjo, demanded
the payment of the electricity bill from the other occupants.
However,
Temitayo was alleged to have refused to pay his share of the bill, which led to
an argument between him and Banjo.
The suspect
was said to have in a fit of anger taken a dagger with which he threatened to
stab Banjo.
It was
gathered that Oladotun, who was coming into the compound with his brother and
friend, saw Temitayo, who was searching for Banjo to stab him.
When Temitayo
could not find his target, he reportedly directed his aggression at Oladotun
and stabbed him in the chest.
Oladotun’s
sister, Ronke Akindipe, who spoke with PUNCH Metro, alleged that the
Investigating Police Officer in charge of the case tried to cover it up by not
informing the Divisional Police Officer in charge of the Ikotun Police Station,
because the suspect was a known face at the station.
She said,
“The landlord does not stay in the house, so the person in charge of the
electricity bill in the house went to the tenants on Sunday to tell them to
settle the bill, but when he got to Temitayo’s apartment to ask for his share
of the bill, an argument ensued between them and Temitayo threatened to break
the man’s head.
“Banjo ran
out of the compound and brought his brother, who is a soldier, and his
colleagues and when they came, he was taken to the Ikotun Police Station to
write an undertaken that he would not touch Banjo and others in the compound.
“When
Temitayo got home, he started threatening to break Banjo’s head for daring to
report him at the police station and when Banjo came back, other neighbours
told him to run away and Temitayo started pursuing him in the compound.
“Oladotun and
one of our brothers and his friend did not have a clue as to what was going on
in the compound and they entered, because it did not cross my brother’s mind
that he was going to stab him, because the disagreement was between Banjo and
Temitayo.
“When
Temitayo could not find Banjo, he stabbed my brother in the chest and my
brother started shouting for help. When my other brother bent down to carry
Oladotun, Temitayo attempted to stab him in the back, but for the intervention
of their friend, who used his hand to block the assailant. My brother was
rushed to hospital but he was pronounced dead on arrival.
“After the
incident, people went after Temitayo and almost beat him to a pulp, but the
police came to rescue him and took him away to the station. The IPO in charge
of the case tried to change the narrative at the station by asking my dad if my
brother had an underlying disease for him to have died from stabbing.
“We later learnt
that the IPO did not inform the DPO about the matter until we saw the DPO and
explained everything to him, and when he called the IPO, he started giving
excuses on why he did not report the matter. The suspect was not feeling
remorseful for what he did when the case was still with the IPO, but when the
DPO intervened, he started feeling remorseful.
“We want
justice; we don’t want them to release a criminal to start walking freely on
the street, because if not for the DPO, the IPO would have released him as he
was bringing up excuses for the suspect.”
The state
Police Public Relations Officer, Bala Elkana, who confirmed the arrest of the
suspect to our correspondent, stated that Temitayo was beaten by a mob and he
needed to be fit for trial before he could be charged.
He said, “The
report we got was that there was a misunderstanding between two neighbours and
one stabbed the other and the suspect narrowly escaped mob action because of
the timely intervention of the police.
“He is in our
custody. The DPO reported the matter to the command headquarters, but the
suspect was battered by the mob and we cannot detain him like that; so, he has
to be treated under guard. He cannot stand trial the way he is. As soon as he
is fit to stand trial, he will be in court.”
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