Joy Anyim
Two self proclaimed pastors alleged to have killed their brother-in-law in the Ibafo area of Ogun have been arrested by the police.
The suspects, Chukwuka Stephen, 43, and Ejim Stephen, 39, claimed they killed the deceased, Peter Chukwuyem because he suddenly stopped them from using his house for their church activities.
The Nigerian Xpress correspondent gathered that the deceased who was married to the elder sister of the suspects brought Chukwuka and Ejim from their village in Delta State to live with him at Papa Ibafo.
While they were living with the couple, they were using the front of the deceased’s house for their church activities. The deceased, however, discontinued their use of the space when their conduct became unpleasant.
The Ogun state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) DSP Abimbola Oyeyemi, who spoke on the development said the suspects started nursing animosity after they were sent packing.
Oyeyemi said they ambushed Chukwuyem while he was going to his farm and macheted him to death on February 5, 2019.
“The deceased went to his farm with two of his teenage daughters in the morning and met the two suspects at the farm. Because of the presence of the two girls, they were unable to do anything to him for fear of being exposed.
“ In the evening of the same day, the deceased went back to the farm alone, and the suspects who had been waiting at the farm accosted him and macheted him to death.
“ It was when the deceased didn’t return on time that his wife traced him to the farm and met him cold dead. She subsequently went to Ibafo police station where she lodged complaint.
“ The two brothers were later arrested by the police at Ibafo on account of the two daughters of the deceased who informed the police that they saw the two of them earlier in their father’s farm.
“ On interrogation, the two suspects denied killing their brother-in-law, but when they were confronted by the two daughters of the deceased, they confessed, saying he was killed for depriving them of the continued usage of his frontage for their church activities,” Oyeyemi sated.
The PPRO further revealed that the corpse of the deceased had been deposited at the General Hospital mortuary for post mortem examination.
Commenting on the matter, the Commissioner of Police CP Ahmed Iliyasu ordered the immediate transfer of the suspects to the Homicide section of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department for proper investigation and prosecution.