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A man identified simply as John has lost his life after his friend, Akinola Adeleye, allegedly stabbed him to death over an argument on who to pay for a plate of food.
The incident happened in the Ifako Ijaiye Local Government Area of Lagos State.
It was gathered that the two men had a misunderstanding over who should pay for the plate of meal Akinola had eaten and in the course of the argument that degenerated into a fight, Akinola stabbed John to death with a knife.
PUNCH Metro learnt from some residents in the area that the sad event happened two weeks ago on Idiagbon Street adjacent to the local government headquarters.
It was further gathered that the victim had been squatting in the house of the suspect when they had the fallout over who would pay for a plate of food.
A resident in the area, Ugochukwu, narrating what happened to our correspondent on Wednesday, said, “It happened that Akinola went and ate a plate of food in their usual buka and after eating instead of paying he asked them to add his bill to the account of his friend who wasn’t there with him at that time.
“So, when the victim went to eat at the local restaurant, they informed him that he owed them for the food his friend ate. He was surprised and angry that his friend would ask them to bill him without even telling him about it.
“So, he quickly finished his meal and went home to confront his friend about the debt that was passed down to him. That was how they started quarrelling. As they were fighting over the matter, Akinola, out of anger asked John to pack out of his house immediately but John refused and the fight intensified.
“Before anyone knew what was happening, Akinola left the scene of the fight, rushed back with a knife and stabbed John. We had assumed the fight was over when Akinola left, only for us to see him rush at John with the knife.
“Before we could do anything, John was on the ground and blood was gushing out from his body. Everywhere became scattered in confusion.”
The resident also added that John defecated on himself before he died on the spot, a development that threw the whole area into more confusion and mourning.
According to Ugochukwu, it was in the midst of the confusion that Akinola wanted to escape the scene but was caught by some young men in the area.
Another resident in the area, who identified himself simply as Dada, told PUNCH Metro that he saw the corpse of the dead man being wheeled past his shop to the junction of the street on the day the incident happened.
He said according to what he learnt from the neighbours, the body was wheeled out when the policemen who were contacted said they wouldn’t enter the street because of the volatile nature of the area.
He said, “They called the police to come to the area but the policemen refused saying that the area was too dangerous and that they should bring the dead man and the suspect to the junction.
“They carried the body on a wheelbarrow to the junction. The boys in the area then handed the suspect to the police.
Contacted, the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed the incident, adding that the suspect had already been taken to the State Criminal Investigations Department.
He also told our correspondent that the case would be charged to court on Friday (today).
The Superintendent of Police said, “The case is going to court tomorrow.”
