A scaffolder, Onuh Thomas Stephen, who allegedly killed his colleague and friend, Anayo Francis, during a fight over a N7,000 unpaid loan, admitted to having taken a sniff of marijuana before the incident.
Stephen was arrested by
detectives from Sango Division in Ogun State Police Command for stabbing
23-year-old Francis to death with a kitchen knife because the deceased demanded
the N7,000 the suspect borrowed from him.
After repeated appeals to
Stephen to pay him his money, Francis was reportedly infuriated when the
suspect refused to do so even after he got his salary.
It was gathered that on the
fateful day, Francis had information that Stephen had got his salary, so he
went to him to ask for his money, but the suspect insisted that he did not have
money, resulting in a hot argument which led to a fight.
The suspect who was occupying a
single room reportedly went for a knife during the fight and stabbed Francis in
the chest.
Spokeswoman of the police
command, SP Omolola Odutola, who confirmed the incident, said the injured
victim was rushed to a hospital but was later pronounced dead, leading to the
arrest of the suspect.
28-year-old Stephen, an Idoma
from Benue State, in an interview with the Sunday Tribune, said he came to Ogun
State in January 2022 and started doing scaffolding work at a church in Ota
Narrating what led to the
stabbing of his friend and colleague, the suspect said: “My friend (Francis)
was from Imo State. He was also into scaffolding. I gave him my certificate to
get the job. He was brought to me by a friend I knew in Benue
"My wife delivered our
baby and I was short of money. I told Anayo to help me out and he lent me
N7,000. I added money to pay N20,000 out of the N30,000 the hospital charged as
a fee.
"After this, we could not
get food to eat for over a month. There was no money from my workplace.
Eventually, when I got money, I told Anayo to be patient with me as I owed many
people more than N70,000, and he was my friend. I told him I would pay him when
next I get money. This was discussed while we were at work.
"However, he left the
office before me and went to my room, dragging the issue with my wife and
asking if I was not back from work. When I returned home, my wife asked me
about what happened between me and Francis that made him come to start banging
on my door and asking for my whereabouts
"Angry, I turned to
Francis, asking him why he came to embarrass me because I was owing him. I told
him that I did not collect any money after giving him my certificate and making
photocopies for him to present for employment.
"Before I finished
speaking, Francis charged at me and we started a fight. As we engaged in
fisticuffs, I turned to take my kitchen knife and mistakenly stabbed him.
"When I saw him bleeding,
it dawned on me that I had stabbed him. I quickly carried him and rushed him to
the General Hospital in Ota. There, I was told to get a police report. By the
time I returned to the hospital with the police, I was told that Francis had
died.
"Till now, I can’t just
understand how this thing happened. My brain has yet to decipher how things got
to that stage. I’m not someone who is used to having fights with people.”
The suspect, however, confessed
to smoking marijuana, saying that he had taken a whiff before the fight with
his friend.
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