A 28-year-old man, Ajayi Peters, aka
Ajana, has been stabbed to death in
the Yaba area of Lagos State after a
disagreement over N50 loaf of bread.
PUNCH Metro learnt from residents
that Peters was killed by a bread
vendor, identified simply as Yinka,
aka Buredi.
Information gathered that
Peters had tried to prevail on Yinka
after he refused to sell a loaf to one
of his customers on credit.
It was learnt that there was an
argument between the men and in
the ensuing scuffle, yinka grabbed
a knife and stabbed the deceased
in the head.
He was said to have died in a
private hospital.
The incident happened at a
roundabout on Church Street,
Makoko, Yaba, where Yinka sold
bread on a slab.
A resident, who spoke on condition
of anonymity, told PUNCH Metro
the fight began around 11pm on
Tuesday.
He said, “The incident happened on
Tuesday, June 16, around 11pm.
The man that died was collecting
fees from traders. He and Buredi
(Yinka) had been having issues
because Ajana (Peters) and some
members of his group sometimes
threw away his goods whenever
they had problems with him.
“But on that day, a man had
approached him to buy N50 loaf of
bread on credit. The bread seller
started shouting at the customer
that he should not come near his
bread because he was not ready to
sell on credit.
“At a point, Buredi said, ‘No
powerful man on this street can
take the loaf from me and give
you.’”
It was learnt that the deceased, who
felt insulted by the veiled reference
to him, asked the suspect to give
the customer the loaf.
This was said to have aggravated
the case as both men took turns to
insult each other.
Another resident, who did not
identify himself, said Peters pushed
the suspect.
“The bread seller fell to the ground.
In anger, he picked a knife and
stabbed Ajana in the head. He
started bleeding.
“But not realising the seriousness
of the injuries, Ajana began to look
for a weapon with which to attack
back,” the resident added.
It was learnt that the suspect fled
the scene, while Peters walked
down to a private hospital on the
street.
PUNCH Metro was told that a
doctor attended to him and stitched
the wound.
A woman, who was reportedly close
to the victim, said, “But the injury
was deeper than we thought. He
died from the injuries around
4am.”
The bread vendor, who was unaware of
the development, was tricked by
some people in the community to
come for a truce meeting.
A resident, Solomon Ojo, said, “The
bread seller did not know Ajana
had died. He thought he was only
injured and had treated himself.
“When he was called in the
morning for a truce meeting, he
was surrounded by some youths in
the area who wanted to kill him.
But some community leaders
prevailed on them to hand him
over to the police.”
The suspect was said to have been
arrested by policemen from the
Adekunle division, while the corpse
of the deceased was deposited in a
mortuary.
A source in the area told PUNCH
Metro the suspect did not mean to
kill the deceased.
He said the bread vendor had
always been harassed by hoodlums
in the community, adding that it
was unfortunate Peters died from
the attack.
He said, “The problem started
during the elections when they
discovered he was supporting a
rival political party. They harassed
him and damaged his goods at that
time.
“Whenever they saw him plying his
trade, they harassed him. What
happened that day was just
unfortunate. The man only acted in
self defence.”
The Police Public Relations Officer,
Kenneth Nwosu, confirmed the
incident.
He said the matter had been
transferred to the State Department
of Criminal Investigation for
further investigation.
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