Wole Balogun, Ado Ekiti
The police in Ekiti State have arrested three butchers for allegedly stabbing a barber, Ajibola Falegan, 33, at a viewing centre on Nova road, Basiri area of Ado Ekiti. The victim, who hailed from Erinjiyan Ekiti in Ekiti West local government area of the state, was allegedly attacked on Wednesday.
The suspects are being detained at the police station located along new Iyin road in Ado Ekiti after they were arrested around 10.30pm on Wednesday.
Falegan, who is now receiving treatment at a private medical centre in the state, had deep cuts on his head and parts of his body. Narrating his ordeal to journalists on his hospital bed yesterday, Falegan said the suspects were having altercation with a brother at the viewing centre before he got there and they allegedly pounced on him on sighting him there.
He said he passed out when the attackers stabbed him on the head and body, adding that he only regained consciousness at the hospital. Falegan alleged that his attackers stole his Techno L9 mobile phone worth N70,000 and N10,000 during the attack.
“I didn’t have any misunderstanding with any of them before, but we live within the same vicinity. I got home around 9.30pm on Wednesday after closing and when I got home, I leant my younger brother was still at the viewing centre. I had to go there to bring him home because it was already late.
“When I got there, they had an argument with my brother and when I beckoned on him to follow me home, the boys started harassing me. They started by slapping me and caused commotion in the area.
“Later, they started attacking me with cutlasses and knives which they hid under their clothes.
“The viewers at the centre had to run for their lives. There was uproar everywhere and when I ran to escape, they chased me and stabbed me until I fainted before they left.
“As they were doing this, my brother had rushed home to intimate my wife and the two of them went to the police station to affect their arrest,” he said.
The police public relations officer in Eki, DSP Caleb Ikechukwu, who confirmed the incident, said the command would not tolerate any act of hooliganism and disruption of public peace by any individual or group.
He said the perpetrators have been arrested and would be charged to court at the end of investigations.
“We are investigating the matter and if they turn out to be culpable, then the law will take its full course. They shall be brought to justice,” he said.