Army arrests six over murder of command school’s commandant
Six persons are currently being held at the 2 Division of the Nigerian Army, Ibadan, Oyo State, in connection with the murder of the Commandant of the Command Secondary School, Apata, Col Anthony Okeyim.
Okeyim was found dead in his house situated within the school premises on December 12, 2016. His killers allegedly strangulated him on December 11 and his lifeless body was discovered the next morning.
Addressing reporters on the outcome of its investigation, Deputy Director, Public Relations, 2 Division of the Nigerian Army, Col Timothy Antigha, and Commander, 2 Division Provost Group, Col Abdullahi Ibrahim said the suspects, Solomon Agada Emmanuel, 20; Bibisoye Kehinde, 27; Taiwo Adeniyi, 34; Ewere Andrew, 25; Ephraim Obi, 38; and Udobata Onusa, 28; played different roles in the murder of the school commandant.
One of the suspects, Emmanuel was said to be a former student of the school before he was expelled over N70, 000 theft.Emmanuel was the arrowhead of the operation and since the terrain of the school was well known to him, he contracted others to join in the dastardly act.
Antigha said, “I am pleased to inform you that a breakthrough has been made in the investigation. We have in our custody six individuals, who we have reasons to believe played varying roles in the killing of the late senior officer in his residence.
“On the day the late senior officer was killed, it was reported that his cell phone was stolen. The phone, a Samsung X4 phone was found in the possession of Emmanuel. He claimed he got the phone from the third suspect, Adeniyi.
“Adeniyi also stated that on the night of December 11, 2016, he and other suspects named above went to Command Secondary School, Apata in ash coloured Toyota Camry car, belonging to the fifth suspect, Obi.
“The second suspect, Kehinde, also called Efrebor, confirmed that Obi’s car was used for the murder. He admitted that he was the one who switched off the generator in the deceased officer’s house before the murder. He described the late senior officer vividly, as well as the dress the deceased officer wore at the time of their attack.
The third suspect, Adeniyi stated that he was notified of the plot to attack the late senior officer by Kehinde.
“The fourth suspect, Andrew confirmed that he was with the second, third, fifth and sixth suspects during the murder of the late senior officer. The fifth suspect provided the logistics for the operation, as his car, an Ash coloured Toyota Camry was used to move the gang to and from Command Secondary School, Apata. The sixth suspect, Onusa was mentioned by others as being a member of the gang.”
Emmanuel and Kehinde told reporters that they were involved in the operation that led to the death of the commandant but were contracted by a rich Igbo man to deal with Okeyim over a dispute on a landed property. The military dismissed the claim as mere fabrication.The suspects and available evidence that linked them to the incident were subsequently handed over to the police for further investigation.
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1 Comments
Can a Student kill a Colonel for just been dismissed for actually stealing N70,000. Armed robbers or burglar profiles do not support this behavioural pattern. The pattern is to seek revenge on the snitch. The Authorities should look further into this land dispute opening before closing this case.
We will review and take appropriate action.