₦airaland Forum

By Adeyemi Babarinde Sunday

Lokoja, the Kogi State capital, was thrown into mourning on Tuesday night following the gruesome murder of a young photojournalist, Aiyepeku Ayo.

Ayo was allegedly killed by a man identified as Adebayo Pelumi, his neighbour who resides in the same compound located in the GRA area of Lokoja.

A source, who spoke to the reporter under the condition of anonymity, said he was in the office while the slain photojournalist was working on video and photo editing when the suspect called the victim to assist him at his poultry farm, which is situated within the same compound.

“It was around 7:30 p.m. when the suspect called him, but he didn’t know that Ayo was not the only person in the office. Immediately Ayo stepped out, Adebayo hit him repeatedly with an iron object and killed him there,” [/i]the source said.

The suspect allegedly dismembered the victim’s body and placed the remains inside the freezer he had brought, before discovering there was another person present in the compound. He then locked the eyewitness inside a room upstairs and fled the scene with the freezer in his vehicle.

The eyewitness, after the suspect departed, managed to alert local vigilantes who responded promptly and freed him. Security operatives were immediately notified.

Reports say the suspect, upon returning in the direction of the compound and seeing the vigilante presence, sped off in panic toward Nataco Junction. Security operatives gave chase, during which a shot was fired and another vehicle collided with his from behind. He subsequently abandoned the vehicle and escaped into nearby bushes.

[i]“The police later recovered the vehicle and the freezer, but the freezer was empty. He had either disposed of the body or handed it to an accomplice,” the source said.

The suspected murderer is said to hail from Odo Akodi compound, Ekinrin-Adde, in Ijumu Local Government Area of Kogi State.

As of press time, the Kogi State Police Command has not issued an official statement on the incident. Meanwhile, a manhunt has been launched for the suspect, whose whereabouts remain unknown.