Blessing Okon, leader of an armed robbery gang, said he and other members chopped and killed a member, Shahabi Jadi, over the distribution formula of proceeds from a robbery operation in Ondo State.
Okon, who also worked as a laborer at Ehinowo Camp via Ondo town, was arrested along with other robbery members identified as Gabriel Japhet, 26, Osha Fenus, 23, and Gbenga Timothy, 22.
The suspects were among 15 suspects paraded by the Ondo State Police Command on Monday, November 7, 2023 for various heinous crimes, including cultism, illegal possession of firearms, attempted murder, fraud, rape, and illegal possession of Indian hemp/illicit drugs.
Investigations revealed that the deceased, Jadi, a Hausa man, had come to the camp to sell foodstuffs, solar lights, knickers, etc., but unbeknownst to all the camp residents, he was part of a robbery gang.
When interviewed by a reporter, Okon said that Japhet, enraged by Jadi’s greed, cut him to death, giving him N50,000 and leaving him with N150,000 all to himself.
‘We killed him. But my friends accused me of telling the truth to the police that we killed him. The ‘black’ Jafes cut him with a knife.
All of us, including the deceased, used to rob people.” After the last operation we had N200,000, but instead of dividing it equally he decided to give the three of us N50,000.
Jafes said: “I did not cut that man. I was arrested after the others were arrested. After the other suspects were arrested, they told me I was one of the suspects who killed him.
Abiodun Oladimeji Asabi, the state police commissioner who paraded the suspects at the police headquarters in Akure, said they killed the deceased because they had turned against them after one of their operations.
He said, “On October 28, 2023, the police received information that one Shahabi Jadi had been slashed to death along Ehinowo Camp via Ondo Town.
Upon receiving this information, the police arrested one Blessing Okon through intelligence gathering. During interrogation, the young man provided leading information that led to the arrest of suspects Gabriel Japhet, Osha Fenus and Gbenga Timothy.
The suspect further stated that the deceased was a member of their robbery gang, but that they had quarreled because he had deceived them and refused to give them his share of the loot.”
