Samson Folarin

The Lagos State Police Command has arrested a 25-year-old man, Usman Abubakar, for allegedly stabbing his friend, Adio Jimoh, to death in the Iyana Oba, Ojo area of Lagos State.

PUNCH Metro learnt that the suspect killed Jimoh during a scuffle over Abubakar’s ex-girlfriend, identified as Ayinke.

It was gathered that Abubakar had separated from Ayinke after a disagreement but the latter went to meet Abubakar’s friends so that they could appeal to him to take her back.

It was learnt that during a reconciliatory meeting, Abubakar beat up Ayinke, who then reported him to his friends.

The suspect was allegedly attacked by his friends during which he stabbed Jimoh to death.

The suspect reportedly hid in a police post before he was arrested by policemen from the Ojo division.

Abubakar, a secondary school dropout, told the police he acted in self-defence and did not mean to kill the victim.

He said, “I lost my parents when I was very young. I dropped out of school when I was in SS2 due to financial constraints and I became a mechanic.

“Jimoh was my friend and I did not have any misunderstanding with him before that fateful day. On September 13, around 9pm, I was in the house of one of my friends, Riliwan, when I saw my former girlfriend, Ayinke, enter the room with her friend, Olamide.

“I immediately warned her and ask her to leave, but she did not answer me. She started abusing me and later grabbed me by the shirt and when I saw it was getting out of hand, I forced myself out of her hands.”

He said Ayinke and Olamide left the room and he later decided to leave for his own apartment on Prince Adebayo Street, Iyana Oba.

He claimed that he was on his way home when two men he identified as Ibrahim, aka Yahoo, and Basoro attacked him for assaulting his former girlfriend.

He said, “The two of them said I beat Ayinke and they attacked me, but I escaped and ran to my house. When I got home, I met my landlord and his wife and as I was narrating what happened to them, six of my friends arrived with broken bottles.

“They did not even bother to listen to my side of the story. Jimoh first gave me a punch before another one hit me. Jimoh then brought out a knife and I tried to snatch it from him. I succeeded in getting the knife from him and stabbed him in the chest.

“I ran to a police post and it was there some members of the Oodua People’s Congress came to identify me through my photo that I was the one that killed Jimoh.”

PUNCH Metro learnt that the deceased’s corpse was deposited in a mortuary, but his family members retrieved it before the police could conclude investigations.

A source said the family had also stopped responding to police calls, adding that the police were working hard to gather evidence against the suspect.

He said, “The matter has been deadlocked because of his family’s reluctance to help the police. They have stopped coming and they have even buried him without waiting for an autopsy to be conducted on the corpse. The only thing right now is that the man has confessed to the crime.”

The Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Joe Offor, promised to get back to our correspondent but he had yet to do so as of the time of filing this report.

PUNCH Metro learnt that the deceased’s corpse was deposited in a mortuary, but his family members retrieved it before the police could conclude investigations.
A source said the family had also stopped responding to police calls, adding that the police were working hard to gather evidence against the suspect.

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