A 30-year-old man, Oluwagbemiga Shogbola, has reportedly stabbed his friend, Victor Olabiyo, to death over $150 (N61,950) proceeds of a business deal between them in the Ikenne Local Government Area of Ogun State.
A police source confirmed that Shogbola was a suspected Internet fraudster.
It was gathered that Shogbola, aka Oja or Federal, accused the victim of cheating him and taking all the money to himself.
It was further learnt that as the disagreement degenerated into a fight between the men, some of their associates attempted to mediate, but to no avail.
At around 8pm on Tuesday, Shogbola was said to have posted a picture of Olabiyo on his WhatsApp status with a tag, ‘RIP’.
The suspect, who is now in detention at the state police command headquarters, Eleweran, Abeokuta, reportedly stabbed the victim to death around 11pm.
One of the deceased’s friends, Onyemaechi Onwuzuribe, said Shogbola was given a hot chase as he attempted to board a motorcycle to flee the scene.
On seeing his bloodstained shirt, motorcyclists were said to have turned down his request for a ride.
The suspect reportedly raced to the Ilishan-Remo Police Station, where he handed himself over to the police.
According to Onwuzuribe,”Federal was bloodied and I saw him running away though I did not know that he had stabbed Victor (Olabiyo). I knew that they fought earlier that morning over $150 and as soon as I saw him running, I sensed that he must have done something.
“I grabbed him and just as I did, I saw people running after him and crying that he had stabbed Victor to death. That was when I and others tried to hold him, but he escaped and went to the police. If the boys had caught him, they would have lynched him.”
The victim’s brother, Adebowale Opasanya, stated that the deceased was a professional fashion designer.
He said the incident was shocking as the two friends were close and visited each other often.
“Victor’s death was shocking to us. I am dazed that his friend, Federal, was the one who killed him just because of $150. I had warned him about some of his friends, but I never thought Federal would do this.
“We heard that Federal ran to Ilishan from Ifo due to something of this nature; he was accused of killing in that area as well,” he added.
At Ilishan-Remo Police Station on Wednesday, a crowd of protesters demanded that the police hand over the suspect for jungle justice.
The Divisional Police Officer, SP Kunle Olaitan, while advising the people to go home, said the police were investigating the incident.
The remains of the deceased were reportedly deposited in the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Sagamu.
The Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, confirmed the incident.
He noted that the suspect had been transferred to the Homicide Section of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Eleweran, Abeokuta.
