Electrician accused of stealing phone stab witness to death (Details, pics)

Whenever students of The Polytechnic, Ibadan, Oyo State, resume academic activities in January 2018, 18-year-old Farooq Olusegun, will be missing.

Olusegun, who just got admission to the institution, was reportedly stabbed to death by an electrician, Israel Oluranti.

The suspect was arrested by policemen from the Agbado Police Division, led by the Divisional Police Officer, CSP Omonijo Sunday.

It was learnt that Oluranti and Olusegun had attended a birthday party on Moshood Amao Street, Jafar, Ope-Ilu, Ogun State, with their respective friends on Christmas Eve.

It was learnt that the two groups sat side-by-side at the event. While the party was on around 1am on Monday, one Lekan, a dancer and Olusegun’s friend, went to the stage to entertain the gathering.

He reportedly hurriedly dropped his mobile phone with somebody while going on stage, but could not recognise the person when he returned to his seat.

As Lekan was searching for his Lenovo phone, Olusegun claimed that he saw Oluranti collect it – an allegation the suspect denied, leading to an altercation between him and the deceased.

The deceased’s close friend, Damilola Rotimi, told news correspondent that he was sleeping when some people from the event knocked on his door around 3am and informed him of the chaos.

He said, “On getting to the party, the phone had been found on him (Oluranti) upon Farooq’s (Olusegun) insistence. As people chided him, he became violent, smashed the bottle of the beer that he was drinking on his own head and attempted to stab Lekan. “Lekan dodged the attack, but he stabbed Farooq in the chest and fled with his friends. One of our friends, Tobi, went after him and he was caught. Tobi was injured while trying to apprehend him.

"At the party, we looked for a car or motorcycle to take Farooq to a hospital without success. "It was the brother of the host that helped us to get a wheelbarrow which we used to take him to a health centre around the venue. The health centre referred him to a private hospital, Osana. When we got there, they said the doctor was not around. We took him to Noble Hospital, where he was confirmed dead on arrival.

“We are childhood friends. He was supposed to resume at The Polytechnic, Ibadan, in January.”

“He wanted to study Business Administration at The Polytechnic Ibadan. He was living in a detached apartment in his parents’ compound. Somebody came to wake him up that night to attend the party. The parents were shocked when they were informed us about his death in the morning,” he added.

Olusegun’s uncle, Kolawole Abiola, said his graduation from a vocational centre as a photographer was slated for next month. He said the family was devastated by the incident.