A 26-year-old man, Wisdom Okafor, has been killed after a scuffle with a car wash attendant, Monday Ekwekuba, in the Ojokoro area of Lagos State.
PUNCH Metrolearnt that 38-year-old Ekwekuba, an indigene of Imo State, attacked the victim with a stick before chasing him into the path of a speeding vehicle after he saw him (Wisdom) in his girlfriend’s house.
Wisdom was reportedly crushed to death.
The incident happened on Clem Street in the Ijaiye Ojokoro area.
Our correspondent was told that Wisdom was a casual friend of Ekwekuba’s girlfriend, and was preparing for JAMB examination when he was killed.
The police from the Ojokoro division were said to have arrested the suspect, while the corpse of the deceased was taken to a mortuary in the area.
The victim’s elder brother, Celestine, toldPUNCH Metrothat the police had earlier arrested him accusing Wisdom of being involved in a fight.
He said, “On Sunday, March 22, around 10.30pm, the police came with a lady to my house and asked for my brother. They said he was involved in a fight and had injured a man named Monday (Ekwekuba), who had been hospitalised.
“I told them my brother went out to see a friend and had yet to return to the house. They said they would arrest me until I was able to produce my brother.
“I was detained and later they asked me to pay N10, 000 for Monday’s treatment, which I did.
“They then asked how I would produce my brother, and I decided to call him in their presence. His phone started ringing in the pocket of one of the policemen. The officer said the phone belonged to the man in the hospital, who had just died.”
Celestine said the police took him to the morgue where he identified the corpse of his brother.
He said that was when the suspect’s girlfriend opened up to the police that Wisdom had visited her on the day her boyfriend came, and accused her of dating him.
It was learnt that Ekwekuba began to quarrel with his girlfriend and was fighting with her when Wisdom intervened.
Celestine said, “The man then decided to go downstairs and wait for my brother. When my brother came down, he picked a stick and hit him on the head.
“As my brother ran, he pursued him into the mouth of a speeding vehicle and he was crushed to death.”
The suspect was said to have fled the area.
However, the police reportedly arrested his boss, who then produced him after some time.
Celestine appealed to the police to release his brother’s corpse, saying his job had been adversely affected by the incident.
“Our mother is late and our father is in the village in Enugu. He is sick, and I cannot inform him of the death of our brother because I don’t know what can happen to him. My job has been at a standstill and they should please release the corpse to us so I can go and bury him and move on,” he added.
PUNCH Metro learnt that the police wanted to obtain the autopsy report before releasing the corpse to the family.
The deceased’s younger brother, Daniel, while expressing his sadness urged the police to give the family justice.
He said, “It was after he mistakenly dialled her phone number and they spoke that she invited him to her apartment and that was how they met.
“He later saw her in a nylon company where he was working to raise money for his exams. She was also working there. She was older than my brother and there was no way they could be dating,” he added.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Lagos State Command, Kenneth Nwosu, when contacted, did not pick his call.
He had also yet to reply to a text message on the incident as of the time of filing this report.
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