Police arrest labourer over killing of client, N2m ransom
Full Description
The Police in Delta State have arrested a labourer, Alex Kehinde, over the alleged abduction and killing of a client, from whom he and an accomplice collected a N2 million ransom. The spokesperson for the Delta State Police Command, Bright Edafe, said the deceased had contracted the suspect on February 3 to carry out renovation work in his house in Asaba before renting it out. Edafe explained that after completing the job and receiving payment, the suspect and his accomplice, now at large, allegedly lured the victim back to the house under the pretext that a plumbing pipe upstairs was leaking and required urgent attention. “On getting there, the suspect kidnapped him. As the deceased was shouting for help, they covered his mouth with foam so that people would not hear his voice, and in the process, he suffocated to death,” he said. He added that the suspects dispossessed the victim of his phone, removed the SIM card and sold the device for N30,000. “Thereafter, they inserted the SIM card into their own phone, contacted one of the deceased’s sons and demanded a ransom,” he said. According to Edafe, the suspects collected N2 million from the victim’s family after he had already been killed. The suspect, in an interview with police, reportedly confessed that the crime was motivated by financial need, adding that his fleeing accomplice initiated the plan. “We told him there was a pipe upstairs that was leaking. On getting there, we tied him up. When he tried to shout, we covered his mouth with foam and left him there,” the suspect said. “We sold his phone, called his son and collected N2 million, which we shared equally.” Edafe further disclosed that the suspect fled to Lagos after the incident but was later tracked and arrested through technical intelligence. He said the suspect would be charged, while efforts were ongoing to apprehend the fleeing accomplice.