Police in Lagos have arrested five persons suspected to be connected with the killing of 22-year-old Olamide Omolegbe who was accused of stealing a cell phone.
Lagos police spokesman, Bala Elkana, said in a statement on Sunday that a woman, Bolanle Muhammad, had on July 8 raised alarm that her phone had gone missing.
The suspects were said to have mobbed Omolegbe and beaten him to death over the phone.
“The deceased person was accused of stealing a phone by one Bolanle Muhammed in her soft drink shop at Bodore, Ajah.
“The false alarm she raised led to the beating and killing of the victim by the suspects: Wasiu Wahab, Ramon Ibrahim, Junior Adebayo and Yusuf Adegbite.
“The four persons actually beat up the boy and when he was dead, they threw him into the lagoon,” the statement said.
Mr Elkana also said the corpse was recovered by police officers on July 10 at Badore Jetty and deposited at Mainland Hospital Mortuary for autopsy.
The statement further said: “Five suspects including the woman who raised the false alarm were arrested.
“Wasiu Wahab who is the principal murder suspect and Yusuf Adegbite were arrested inside the lagoon where they hid themselves in order to evade arrest.”
Elkana said investigation revealed the phone was actually stolen by the shop owner’s son.
According to him, the commissioner of police, Zubairu Muazu, had ordered the homicide section of the State Criminal Investigation Department Panti to take over the investigation.
