KINGSLEY EBERE
Police operatives from Ejigbo Division of the Lagos State Command have arrested a 10-year old boy, Ezekiel Evbota, for allegedly strangling his football mate, Israel Ogunleye, 10, to death over a disagreement while they were playing football.
P.M.EXPRESS reports that the incident happened on 29th March, 2024, at an open space located at 34 Oluwole Street, Pipeline Bus Stop, Ejigbo area of Lagos, where the boy’s mother has a shop.
The arrest followed a report to the Police by the father of the deceased identified as Mr. Kola Ogunleye of Morning Star Street, Pipeline, Ejigbo, Lagos, that his son, Israel, was playing football with some boys and he had an argument with one of the boys, Evbota, who held his neck and strangled him in the process.
The Divisional Police Officer, CSP Vera Ameh-Akpa, acted promptly and deployed her team to the scene. The operatives recovered the boy’s body, which they took to Isolo General Hospital, where doctors confirmed him dead.
The corpse was deposited at the mortuary for autopsy reports while the suspect was arrested and detained for the alleged murder, which attracts several years of imprisonment or life imprisonment not minding his age.
The incident threw the area into shock and many were surprised over what happened. They wondered how the suspect derived such strength to strangle the deceased to death.
When P.M.EXPRESS reporter visited Ejigbo Police Division, the DPO was said to have gone for routine monitoring in the area and was unavailable to speak on the matter.
However, Police sources said the matter will be transferred to the Homicide Department of the SCID at Yaba for further investigation over the alleged murder.
This was confirmed by the Police Public Relations Officer, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, who stated that the Police have started investigation into the matter and the suspect will be charged before the Court for the alleged offence but that will be after the conclusion of investigations by the Police.