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| Kehinde Adebiyi |
Two pupils of an undisclosed secondary school in Iyana Iyesi, Ogun State, have been arrested for the murder of a 15-year-old boy, Kehinde Adebiyi.
The teenage pupils, identified simply as Divine and Bolu, reportedly beat the late Kehinde and smashed his head on a concrete pole and left him for dead while he was on an errand to his father’s mechanic’s shop in the neighbourhood on February 21, around 5 pm.
It was learnt that Adebiyi was attacked a few days after his father, Nojeem Adebiyi, challenged the suspects for flashing the beam of their torchlight into his compound around 9 pm, demanding to know their mission in the area.
Nojeem was said to have slapped Bolu for being unruly while he (Nojeem) was addressing Divine, just as Kehinde, a Senior Secondary 2 pupil, reportedly cautioned Bolu to stop insulting his father.
Kehinde died the day after the attack at Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba, Lagos, while he was being prepared for surgery.
Recounting the ordeal, Nojeem told reporters, during the week, that his son’s death had brought an irreparable loss to the family, adding that the family marked the twins’ 15th birthday last Monday on a very sad note.
He said, “Two days ago, around 9 am, two boys, Divine and Bolu, came to my house at Olajesu, Iyana Iyesi. I had not met them before until that day. The twins didn’t know them either before that day. Divine flashed the beam of his torchlight into my compound and I challenged him. I asked him about his mission and held him. Bolu shouted at me and told me to let go of his friend. I told him he was rude and slapped him.
“Kehinde cautioned him by telling him not to talk to me like that. I then asked for his house and the following day, I went to report him to his family. I met his guardian and father.
“On Thursday, February 21, when the twins returned from school, I sent Kehinde to my mechanic to give him money for the repair of my vehicle. On his way there, they attacked him and smashed his head against a concrete pole. We reported to the police and took him to a hospital. An X-ray was run on his skull. The next day, we were referred to the nearby Federal Medical Centre for a comprehensive test.
“We were on our way when Kehinde started acting strangely. We rushed him to LUTH. They were preparing him for surgery when he died.”
Nojeem added that when he went to Bolu’s house and met with his father, he said he didn’t know Bolu’s whereabouts. “We later learnt that Bolu and Divine are cult members. My children didn’t go around the community. They were always indoors after returning from school.”
The deceased’s twin brother, Taiye, accused their classmate, one Aishat, of instigating Bolu against Kehinde because she had told him they were on his trail.
Taiye said, “When Kehinde and I got to school a day after my daddy slapped Bolu for being rude to him, Aisha told us some things about him. She said if our daddy knew who he was, he would not slap him. We asked Aisha to beg him on our behalf.
“She said Bolu was angry because we were looking for his house. I told her that we were not looking for him. We later knew it was the same Aisha who lied to Bolu that we were looking for him.
“I want justice to prevail. Kehinde must not die just like that. We both wanted to study Electrical Engineering. We were preparing very hard to take the West African Senior Secondary School Examination and Unified Tertiary Matriculations Examination.”
It was said that the two suspects and three other accomplices had been arrested by the police from the Onipanu Division.
