Tobias Sylvester
A 65-year-old man identified as Ibrahim Ajayi Allah, who retired from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) three-years-ago to pursue agriculture which was said to have always been his passion, has been been gruesomely murdered by his friend.
Nigerian Tribune reports that after retiring from NNPC, Ajayi decided to buy eight hectares of land at Oke-Oyi community, near Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, and poured all his passion into it.
On Friday, December 13, 2019, at about 5.00 p.m., Ajayi was hacked down on his farm in a most gruesome way. He was macheted “like when one kills a goat”.
It was alleged that the attacker, identified simply as Waheed, a man in his mid-40s and a native of Oke-Oyi, lured the deceased to the farm with intention to kill him but told the deceased that he wanted to confirm a bullet-proof or local charm he had made on the deceased.
The suspect, who was later picked up by the police, is said to be a man from that same community with whom the deceased had developed a close relationship.
Sources close to the deceased revealed that Ajayi was always going in and out with the guy.
“In fact, on the day of the murder, they were together and had lunch together before my friend was savagely axed to death at about 5pm.
“When the police searched the suspect’s house, they found my friend’s phone, blood-stained clothes and other personal effects. He is said to have confessed to having killed my friend,” the source said.
Wife of the deceased, Mrs Ibrahim, who works in Abuja, narrated her ordeal and appealed to the police authorities to allow justice prevail.
“He called me every morning around 5 o’clock. When I didn’t see his call on that day, I was worried, thinking he probably didn’t charge his phone. When it was around 6.30 a.m., I called him but none of the lines was going through. At about 7.00 a.m., I succeeded with one of his lines and the person who picked the call asked what I was to the owner of the line. I said I was his wife. The person said he was a police officer and that he was speaking from a police station. He said my husband had an accident. I called him back and that was when he said I should come to the police station at Oke-Oyi in Ilorin. I was already shaking. I called my husband’s brother in Ilorin but he said he had yet to know what was going on because he was just called, too. He told me my husband’s car was still parked where it was but he had not seen his brother.
“However, people had already started calling to commiserate with me while on the bus on my way from Abuja to Ilorin. I said to myself, ‘my husband is not dead but why the condolences?’ By the time I got to Ilorin, it was about 8.00 p.m. I called the police officer that I was already in Ilorin, but he said I should come the next day since it was already late. Around 9.00 p.m., my husband’s brother called me to say that my husband’s phone was found on his Oke-Oyi farm where he was macheted.
“I started crying upon the reality that had just dawned on me. When we got to the police station the following morning, I was shown a picture of my husband. He was killed like when one kills a goat. I was shown the assailant, too. I saw him in handcuffs on his legs and arms. I asked him why he killed my husband, and he said he wouldn’t have killed him intentionally. He said he was under a spell (eedi). He said my husband was nice to him, took care of him and promised to buy him a car but he didn’t know how it happened. He told me that he committed the offence but didn’t know what came over him. I was shivering and couldn’t bear to hear anything from him again. He was taken back into the cell by the police. They thought I would fight him because I was so dejected.
“My husband’s corpse had been taken to mortuary. We asked for its release but police said they wanted to carry out autopsy. It was eventually released to us on Monday evening for burial, being a Muslim. The police told us they would have to investigate the matter.”
Speaking with newsmen on the development, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Kwara State command, Ajayi Okesanmi, while confirming the incident, said investigation was on to unravel the motives behind the murder. Okesanmi said:
“I learnt he went to the farm with his friend on the fateful day and an argument ensued. It was gathered that there was a scuffle and the deceased was overpowered by his so-called friend. And the assailant hacked the man to death. We’re still investigating to know the cause of the action because the man kept saying it was like a spell cast on him. We’re going on with our investigation to know the motive behind the action.”
