Laide Raheem, Abeokuta
Officers of the Ogun State Police Command have arrested a driver, Abiodun Idowu, for allegedly strangling a co-worker, Abimbola Hamzat, to death while attempting to rape her.
According to police spokesman Abimbola Oyeyemi, the arrest of the 40-year-old Idowu followed a complaint by one Owolabi Moses, who reported on May 31 at Onipanu Dvisional Headquarters, Ota, that the suspect had killed the victim, a 38-year-old woman, while attempting to force her to have sex with him.
The suspect, the spokesman added, was a driver in a sachet water factory where the victim worked as an accountant.
He stated further that Moses, who is the owner of the factory, informed the police that the suspect had frequently made advances toward the victim, which she repeatedly turned down. The victim was said to be alone in the factory on the day the suspect attacked her.
The spokesman explained that, on the strength of the report, the Divisional Police Officer in charge of Onipanu Division, SP Sangobiyi Johnson, led detectives to the scene where they met the suspect unconscious.
It was gathered that the suspect, having realized that he had committed a serious crime, made efforts to kill himself by drinking disinfectant solutions.
The DPO and his men, however, rushed him to an hospital for medical attention where he was treated and discharged, and promptly arrested.
Meanwhile, Commissioner of Police Ahmed Iliyasu has ordered that the suspect be transferred to the homicide section of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID) for proper investigation and prosecution.