The three suspects arrested over the murder of a Naval officer, Sub-Lt. Samuel Akingbohun, in ldo- Ani, Ose Local Government Area of Ondo State, have narrated why and how they killed the officer, after an altercation.
While being paraded by the state police command, the suspects – Ayomide Sambo, 20; Johnson Adeleke, 20; and Shagari Francis, 17 – confessed to killing the officer for assaulting one of them.
It was gathered that the three suspects just finished secondary school in the town.
They narrated how they used an iron rod to hit the deceased officer’s head and scrotum.
Sambo narrated that the naval officer physically assaulted his friend, Adeleke, by slapping and giving him a headbutt, while trying to contest for the right of way in the community.
He said “We were so annoyed that we went after him and we cornered him at a junction, where we attacked him using an iron rod.
“We were on our way to collect a power bank when we encountered the naval officer. He was coming from the opposite direction, and the portion he was coming from was bad.
“We were both trying to take a good path when my friend used his shoulder to shove the officer. “In annoyance, the naval officer slapped him and also gave him a headbutt. We started to beg the naval officer. After the naval officer had left, my friend said it was fake military personnel.
“It was then that we took a bike and traced him to the junction and challenged him.
“The naval officer and my friend started fighting. It was in the process that I picked up an iron rod and began to hit him all over his body. My friend also collected the iron rod from them and started hitting him.
“But the two of my friends are now denying it and saying that I was the only one that hit him with the iron rod.
“We have never seen the officer before. That was the first time we set our eyes on him. Even the Okada rider that carried us was saying that where my friend hit him with the iron rod was dangerous.
“We were arrested while trying to flee from the town. I was first arrested, while the other two were arrested the following day after I told the naval officers their whereabouts. The two of them are now saying that I was the only one that hit him”.
Adeleke, however, denied his involvement in the beating and killing of the officer.
He said: “When I was on my way to remove my power bank, I mistakenly hit my elbow with the navy officer. He slapped me and gave me a headbutt. At that moment, we didn’t know that he was a naval officer.
“After the fisticuffs, we took a bike and traced him. After catching up with him, I confronted him, but he refused to say anything.
“The friend of the naval officer used his elbow to hit Ayomide, it was at that point that Ayomide picked up the iron rod and started hitting him. I did not hit him at all, it was Ayomide that was hitting him.
“I was already out of Idoani in a bid to escape when my mother’s elder brother called me to report to the station”.
Francis said: “I didn’t hit the naval officer. I was just following them. I was arrested when my mother took me to the station to ask if I was part of them”.
The police command’s spokesperson, Deputy Superintendent Funmilayo Odunlami-Omisanya said the suspects would soon be charged to court for prosecution after police investigation.
She said: “Currently, three suspects are in custody, and in the course of interrogation, we realised that one Ayomide Sambo was one of those mobilised to the scene, and when he got there, he carried an iron rod, hit him on his head and his testicles, and started stoning him.
“Later, he became unconscious, and he was rushed to the hospital in the town, where he was confirmed dead by the doctor”.
