A 30-year-old man identified simply as David, who is said to be under the influence of hard drugs, has allegedly stabbed a cleric, Akeem Ojiwusi, to death around Odekeye close, in the Abule Egba area of Lagos State.

 PUNCH Metro gathered that David was fond of committing different crimes whenever he got intoxicated and his actions usually put him at loggerheads with his neighbours.

On the fateful day the crime was committed, Ojiwusi’s relative, who identified himself simply as Sefiu, said he was at home when the cleric sent him to buy some drugs for his treatment.

While on his way to get the drugs, Sefiu told our correspondent that he suddenly started hearing Ojiwusi screaming for help, adding that he ran back and saw David, who appeared to be acting under the influence of hard drugs, stabbing the cleric repeatedly.

He said, “He (Ojiwusi) sent me to buy some drugs for him and when I was going towards the gate, I heard a scream from our compound and ran back and saw David stabbing my uncle.”

Speaking with our correspondent, Ojiwusi’s friend, Adeleke Sulaimon, said neighbours who witnessed the attack told him Ojiwusi was pleading for help while being rushed to hospital.

He said, “I was told by some of the people who helped David’s mother to rush him to the hospital that Ojiwusi was screaming in pain and saying David stabbed him. He was saying ‘I don’t want to die’, he was also shouting Allah, Allah.”

“In fact, as we speak now, Ojiwusi’s phone is with David’s mother and we have been trying to reach her too because, after the whole incident, she also ran away. We have not been able to see any member of their family since Sunday.”

Ojiwusi’s relative, Kayode Abdulrasheed, said David was one of his late cousin’s neighbours, adding that he was at home when he received the sad news that claimed his cousin’s life.

He said, “I was at home on Sunday night when I received a call that my cousin had been stabbed to death by one of the children of his neighbours where he lived in Abule Egba. I made further enquiries and I was told that what happened was that the person who stabbed him, David, is always smoking one drug called ‘Colorado’ which always makes him act like a madman.”

“It was still his mother that reported the case to the police at the New Oko Oba Police Station before we even got there on Monday and the police arrested David because she does not want people to take laws into their hands and deal with her son. The Oko Oba Police Station has transferred the case to the State Criminal Investigations Department.”

“I even learnt that he once tried to rape his sister but for the intervention of my cousin and other neighbours who heard her screaming and they had to rescue her from him. My cousin, like I was told, was also carried to the hospital by David’s mother and some good Samaritans but along the way, we were told that he died due to the amount of blood he lost after the attack.”

The deceased’s wife, Fatima, while demanding justice, said she was not at home when the suspect perpetrated the crime.

She said, “It was one of our relatives, Sefiu, who called me after he (Ojiwusi) had died and narrated the whole matter to me. I am now a widow.”

Our correspondent gathered that Ojiwusi’s corpse had been deposited at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital in the Ikeja area of the state.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed the incident.

He said, “On Sunday, there was a reported case of a stabbing that led to the death of a man, Akeem Ojiwusi, by one David, and the police have arrested the suspect and the investigation is ongoing.”

“Talking about being under the influence of drugs, we cannot ascertain that but what we know is that a person stabbed another person to death and the suspect has been arrested by our men. The suspect would have his day in court.”

@ Punch Newspaper