The Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS) has arrested two suspected cult members who allegedly murdered a Nigerian based in Australia, Michael Chinedu, who was stabbed to death at a football field in Iba Housing Estate, Ojo, Lagos.
Suspected cult members
The self-confessed members of Eiye confraternity have been guests of FSARS, telling detectives all they know about the death of Chinedu.
Chinedu, who visited Nigeria for his traditional marriage, was allegedly stabbed to death during a fight with the suspects, Ogunyemi, popularly known as Pedro, and Bello, alias T-boy.
After killing Chinedu, the suspects took to their heels and relocated from Lagos, but some months after they thought the dust had settled and came back to Lagos to start a new life, luck ran against them when, on a tip-off, operatives who were on their trail picked them up.
A source said that trouble started in a football field where the deceased and his assailants went to watch a friendly match between two communities. In the process, the deceased and Ogunyemi were embroiled in a verbal confrontation, which degenerated into a fight.
“When it became apparent that the deceased was overpowering Ogunyemi, his friend, Bello, allegedly used a knife to stab Chinedu in the chest. Ogunyemi and Bello immediately fled the scene, abandoning their opponent to his fate. Chinedu, died a week later, after futile efforts by doctors to revive him at an undisclosed hospital, due to loss of blood,” a source said.
In an interview, Bello claimed to have stabbed the deceased in self-defense. He said: “I went to play ball at the football pitch when I heard an uproar. On reaching the scene, I saw a man engaged in a scuffle with Pedro (Ogunyemi).
In my attempt to intervene, the man slapped me. He left Pedro and faced me. He hit me twice on the ground and used a tyre rim to hit me. In defense, I rushed to an orange seller where I collected a knife and stabbed him in the shoulder.
“I managed to escape from the scene and went into hiding when I heard he was dead.
“ In my hideout, I turned a new leaf and got married. I thought the case had died since it’s been long it happened. I was at home with my wife and child when the police came with Pedro to arrest me.”
On his part, 31-year-old Ogunyemi, who claimed that he was the only son of his widowed mother, explained that on a fateful day, he was discussing with a friend he identified as Lexi when the deceased came and rudely interrupted.
He said: “The deceased came and said I should ‘free’ Lexi so that they would leave the field. I pretended not to have heard him and continued the discussion with Lexi. He repeated it and I asked who he was and where he was from. This degenerated into quarrel before Bello came.
“I did not know how the man died but all I could remember was that I saw him on the ground because my friends took me to a corner to pacify me and also prevented me from going to where the fight was going on.
I later left Lagos for Ghana for fear of being arrested over the death of the man. I stayed there for sometime before I returned to Nigeria.”
A police source said: “The suspects will be charged to count today for armed robbery, cultism, and murder. They have other strong cases hanging over their necks.”
