A 15-year-old Arabic pupil, Sodiq Isa, has been arrested for allegedly beating a 26-year-old neighbour, Johnson Adeboye, to death with a stick on Townhall Street in the Amukoko area of Lagos.
According to PUNCH, the duo reportedly had a disagreement after the deceased complained that the suspect was making a noise with a plate. The suspect was alleged to have abused the deceased, which led to a fight.
In the course of the scuffle, Isa, who is the third of four children, beat the deceased to death with a stick.
He was said to have been arrested by policemen from the Amukoko division before he was transferred to the State Department of Criminal Investigation, Yaba.
The suspect said Adeboye, a Keke Marwa (tricycle) driver, had first attacked him, and he was forced to retaliate.
He recounted;
“I was returning from Arabic school at about 5pm that day (December 5). The plate I used in taking food to school fell from my hands. I picked it up and went to a shop close by to clean it up. There was a table in front of the shop; so, I hit the plate on the table to remove the sand inside the plate. Johnson (Adeboye) was in front of the shop, and he told me that I was making a noise with it.
I told him I was only trying to clean up the sand in the plate. He asked me if I was mad, that why should I be talking to him like that. I responded and told him I was not mad. He warned me that if I continued to talk back at him, he would beat me up. I ignored his threat and walked home.”
He added that the victim followed him home and continued the threat.
Later, Isa’s grandma, who was at home at the time, reportedly intervened and asked what the matter was. The suspect claimed that he was explaining what had transpired to her when the victim attacked him from behind.
“Johnson came from behind and started beating me. Some people around separated us and he left, but he returned some minutes later to assault me again.
People separated us for the second time, but he went to call one of his friends. Both of them started assaulting me.
It was at this point that I felt the urge to defend myself. I picked a stick on the ground and hit Johnson on the head. Immediately, he fell and became unconscious. Neighbours gathered and rushed him to the hospital. But it was too late as he was already dead,” he added.
The suspect, who said he wanted to be an Islamic cleric, begged for forgiveness, saying it was not his intention to kill the deceased.
Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Joe Offor, said investigations were ongoing.
