Detectives from the Lagos State Police Command have arrested two labourers, Ayuba Abu, 32, and Dogo Yakubu, 30, for allegedly drowning their colleague in Lagos.
The suspects were said to have accused the deceased, Mamudu Amidu, 34, of stealing their mobile phones while they were working at a construction site.
A source at Ogudu Police Station alleged that the incident occurred on July 8, at Plot 10, Prime Adesoji Ajose Street, Ogudu GRA Phase 11, Lagos.
The source also alleged that the suspected persons cornered the deceased, beat him and drowned him in a stagnant water behind the construction site where they worked.
The case has since been taken to court at Ebute Meta.
The accused persons, Ayuba Abu, 32, and Dogo Yakubu, 30, face a two-count charge of conspiracy and murder.
The judge, Miss B.O. Ope-Agbe, said the accused persons should remain in detention pending advice from the state’s director of public prosecutions.
The prosecutor, Sgt. Jimah Iseghede, told the court that the accused committed the offences on July 8 at Plot 10, Prime Adesoji Ajose Street, Ogudu GRA, Phase 11 in Lagos.
Iseghede alleged that Abu and Dogo had vowed to beat Amidu (the deceased) for stealing a phone but later changed their mind after he begged them to allow him go free.
“But a neighbour, who claimed to have heard about the matter, insisted that Amidu must be punished for the offence.
“The accused persons and the neighbour later tortured Amidu and drowned him in a stagnant water, where he was later found dead,” Iseghede said.
The offences, he said, contravened sections 221 and 231 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.
Section 221 prescribes death sentence for offenders.
The judge adjourned the case to September 13.
