Man stabbed to death at funeral
Headlines Saturday, February 26th, 2011
The ancient town of Iseyin in Oyo State was thrown into mourning penultimate Friday as pandemonium broke out at a funeral ceremony in the town, leaving a young man, whose name was not immediately available, dead and several others injured.
According to information made available to CRIME DIGEST, tragedy struck in the community when a free-for-all broke out between two groups of young men at the Olokoyo area of the town when the miscreants began to fight with broken bottles.
Some members of the two aggrieved groups were reported to have stabbed one another with the sharp object, thereby leaving many casualties in its trail with people in the neighbourhood fleeing the troubled spot to safety.
A member of the group that allegedly stabbed the deceased to death, Akeem Hammed, was detained by the police in Iseyin.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Oyo State Command, Mr. Olatunji Ajimuda, who confirmed the incident, said the suspect gave vital information that could lead to the arrest of other members of his group.
Hammed, 25, a native of Iseyin from Ile Afaaji, is a cloth weaver. The father of two said he and two other friends were invited for the funeral ceremony by the bereaved family. He said, “We were about to leave the venue of the programme and I went to bid our friend that invited us to the occasion farewell.
“I later met the two others (Rasaki and Akeem) where they were fighting. I tried to stop the fight, but they didn’t stop, so I ran to an uncle that lives near the place.”
Afees, who was said to be a member of the Oodua Peoples Congress, reportedly followed him to the scene to stop the fight. But in the ensuing confusion, one of the gladiators allegedly smashed a bottle on Hammed’s head. He was said to have collapsed and got drenched with blood. The people rushed him to the Iseyin General Hospital, on a motorbike.
He told CRIME DIGEST, “After being treated, I went back to Afees’ house to rest.” There the police came to whisk him to the station for interrogation.
Hammed said, “I did not know the cause of the fight as I was speaking with the person celebrating at the time. I later met them fighting with some boys in the area. I couldn’t have been fighting with them because I had an accident and broke my hand. It has not healed and it still pains me. That was why I ran to someone for help to stop them from fighting. But on getting back to the scene we met them fighting with broken bottles. One of them hit my head with broken bottle and my head was stitched at the hospital.”
He said that he later learnt that one of the boys, who was attacked during the fight, had died.
According to the police, Hammed’s friends, who were allegedly involved in the fight have since gone into hiding. One of them called Rasaki is a herbalist, while the other, Akeem, works in a bakery.
Hammed alleged that it was the herbalist that stabbed the deceased. He explained that Rasaki was not drunk at the time of the fight because they were not served alcohol at the party. He said, “We traced the boys (Rasaki and Akeem) to their homes, but couldn’t find them. I told the police that I could take them to their (the suspects’) parents’ house but they have not asked me to take them there.”
The matter has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Iyaganku, Ibadan, Oyo State capital, for further investigation.
The State Police commissioner, Mr. Adisa Bolanta, confirmed the story, saying investigations into the incident were still ongoing.
-Punch
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