Farmer beats 2 to death over theft in own farm

A farmer, identified only as Adegoke, has allegedly beaten two suspected thieves to death in Ore, headquarters of Odigbo LGA of Ondo State. 

City & Crime learnt on Monday that Adegoke, who is a cocoa farmer, nabbed the thieves after they had allegedly stolen some produce and were still wandering on his farm. 

Impeccable sources revealed that one of the suspects, who had been declared wanted by community leaders, had allegedly stolen a motorbike belonging to Mr Adegoke.

The development, according to one of the sources, irked the local farmer, who descended on the suspects with anger, beating them till they died.

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The sources said, “Nemesis caught up with the thieves, who hailed from the neighbouring community of Aba Tuntun, when Mr Adegoke’s wife alerted him of the invasion of his farm by the suspects. 

“Some of them (thieves) had been stealing the farm produce of Adegoke, popularly called Ariya. But he had been keeping quiet for a long time.

“However, nemesis caught up with the thieves, and Adegoke was able to get hold of two people out of four that trespassed on his farm.

“Before now, his cocoa pods, kola nuts, and plantains had been missing from his farm often and often, including his motorcycle. But he found two of the people red-handed.

“Adegoke beat the two he apprehended to stupor, and in the process, they died and this led to intra-communal tension in the area,” the sources, who asked not to be mentioned, said. 

Confirming the incident, the police spokeswoman in the state, Funmilayo Odunlami-Omisanya, said Mr Adegoke had been arrested and transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department in Akure.

Odunlami-Omisanya also said some people in the community claimed that the suspects were around Mr Adegoke’s farm to pick snails and not to steal his farm produce. 

She also added that it was the wife of Adegoke who called her husband that thieves were on his farm, and he returned to attack them.

“So, we are on the case, and we would ensure we get to the root of the matter and ensure justice takes its course at the end of our investigation,” the police spokeswoman said.