FROM IKHILI EBALU, BENIN CITY
Police in Benin have arrested a yet-to-be-named member of a vigilante group for allegedly killing a middle-aged man and setting his corpse ablaze.
The police spokesman, CSP Moses Yamu said the incident occurred between Wednesday night and Thursday, February 21/22.
According to him, on the fateful day, the victim, identified as Lasan Osaze Erhabor, and his friend were returning home late in the night when the suspect, who was on night guard duty at a sawmill, accosted them on a road close to the sawmill.
The suspect reportedly questioned the deceased on why he was returning home late, labelled him a thief and accused him of coming to steal in the sawmill.
It was learnt that during interrogation, the suspect, who was armed with a double-barrel-gun, shot the deceased to death, dragged his lifeless body into the sawmill, covered it with sawdust and set it ablaze.
Yamu added that operatives of the Textile Mill Road Division arrested the suspect at about 8am on Thursday, February 20.
He said: “The Divisional Police Officer, DPO, in charge of Textile Mill Road Division received a distress call at about 8am on Thursday, February 20 from members of the public that they saw the corpse of a middle-aged man covered with sawdust and set ablaze
“The DPO mobilised and deployed his operatives to the scene and actually found the corpse burning under the sawdust.
“They took the corpse to the hospital, but, they, however, found that there was a gun shot injury on the back of the deceased’s neck.
“Investigation has already commenced and we have one suspect in our custody who was the security person of the sawmill at the time the incident happened.”
