Tribune Reports:
The Owode Estate area of Apata, Ibadan, Oyo State was thrown into deep mourning on Thursday, February 20 after 28-year-old Joseph Faminigba, who was stabbed by his neighbour, Sunday Ajayi for challenging him over destroying the tyres of his father’s car the previous night died.
The sorrow was further driven in by the fact that the late Faminigba had just secured a job in a bank and was to resume work on March 1.
If only Joseph Faminigba knew that confronting his neighbour, Sunday Delight Ajayi, (46), with the discovery that he had been responsible for puncturing their vehicle tyres, would result in his eventual death, probably he would have let the man get away with his deed.
But the pain that an hitherto unknown person had caused his father unnecessary spending by regularly deflating their vehicle tyres made Faminigba to ask his neighbour the reason for his unjustified action, a step that turned drastic as Ajayi drove a knife straight into the heart of the 28-year-old man at Owode Estate area of Ibadan on February 19 at about 11p.m.
Unfortunately, the young man gave up the ghost on Thursday, February 20, while being prepared for surgery.
The perpetrator was however arrested by the Apata Division of Oyo State Police Command from where his case was transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Iyaganku, Ibadan, for further investigation. The strange aspect of the story was that the suspect did not express any regret on his deed, claiming that he acted in self-defence.
Ajayi was said to be a lone ranger in the estate as he lived alone in his father’s house since his parents’ death. The 46-year-old is regarded as weird as he had never been married, neither did he have any children. The Faminigba’s house shares a fence with the Ajayi’s and Ajayi’s late mother was a Jehovah’s Witness adherent, just as the Faminigbas. This was expected to be a point of unity between the two families but this was not to be as Joseph Faminigba, who had been buried on Saturday, February 22, was murdered in his prime. He was said to have just gained admission into The Polytechnic Ibadan, for his higher national diploma course while he had also secured a job at Stanbic IBTC bank, Akure.
The suspect, who said he was a bus conductor plying Apata to Dugbe, in an interview with Crime Reports said: “I live in my father’s house, which shares the same fence with the Faminigba’s. Labourers at the pure water factory owned by the Faminigbas always disturbed me. There was a time they sprayed my plants with chemicals.
“At another time, they destroyed the padlocks I used in locking the rooms in our house. I was at a time accused of burgling their house. I was arrested by the police at the prompting of the father of the deceased, Mr Gideon Faminigba, but for lack of evidence, I was discharged. Atimes, they went to the extent of poking nose into my affairs, they spoke ill of me and also aided destruction of my properties.”
When asked about what led to the death of the deceased, he further explained, saying “on that fateful day, I was at the public deep well, jointly built by the community, which is closer to the Faminigbas’ house. But on getting there, I had been using for quite some time which had a very strong rope, suddenly got loosened and fell into the well. When this happened, I believed that it was the handiwork of the children of my neighbour, against whom I had grudges. The instrument I wanted to use to remove the drawer also fell into the well from my hands.
“In revenge, I made for the tyres of the van they use in distributing sachet water and punctured two of them. In the process, one of the children, David Faminigba, saw me and shouted, saying I was the one that had been puncturing their tyres all this while. As I was locking my gate, about five people came and started beating me. When this was on, I tried defending myself, so I used the knife I had earlier used to puncture the tyres to stab one of them named Joseph Faminigba.
“It was just a slight stab and I didn’t expect it to have any effect on him, not to talk of leading to his death. I don’t regret stabbing him because I was only defending myself.”
But contrary to Ajayi’s claims, the immediate elder brother of the deceased, Ayodele Faminigba, said Joseph was only trying to ask the suspect of the reason behind his act when he stabbed him.
“Though I don’t live with my siblings, I know what my brother was capable of doing. He stayed at our father’s sachet water factory. It is this factory that shares fence with Sunday Ajayi’s house. Joseph stayed there alongside two of his younger brothers and there had always been reports of puncturing of the tyres of the five Cabstar vehicles we use in distributing sachet water to our customers.
“We have never been able to catch the perpetrator. Though we suspected Ajayi, there was no concrete evidence to back up our suspicion. He had committed so many atrocities like stealing fowls reared by our mother; sometimes he would destroy things in our house. Before his mother’s death, when such happened and police arrested him, his mother would immediately go and bail him, thereby aiding his bad behaviours. From what he did, it could be seen clearly that he did not like our family, despite the fact that we grew up together and that we were like children to him, judging by his age.
“I learnt that on Wednesday, February 19, when my younger ones came from where they had gone to watch football, the youngest of the three, Tope Faminigba, came outside on hearing the sound of something being deflated. When he got to the trucks, he saw the suspect with a knife, and it was evident that he was the one who had been puncturing the tyres all this while. He immediately called the attention of others. When Joseph heard this, he confronted Sunday.
“He didn’t know that he had a knife with him. He stabbed Joseph deeply, twice, on the chest. It was then that others alongside one elderly man in the area hit him with a big wood to dispossess him of the knife. He was tied while someone called the police, and they came for him. Joseph was taken to the hospital and the doctor told us that the arteries conveying blood to the heart had been punctured which stopped the flow of blood to the heart.
“The doctor said he had lost a lot of blood, and that a surgery was needed to be performed on him. The following day, which was environmental day in Oyo State, we were trying to get money from our bank as early as 7a.m. when my brother called that Joseph was asking for water.
“Shortly after, he called back and was crying profusely, telling us that our brother was dead. I am very sure Ajayi is not insane; he knows what he is doing.”
The man pleaded that law should be allowed to take its course so that his brother death could be avenged.
Confirming the story, the spokesperson for Oyo State Police Command, Olabisi Okuwobi-Ilobanafor, told Crime Reports that the suspect was charged to court on Monday, February 24 on a one-count of murder. He was remanded in Agodi prison while the case was adjourned to March 22 for further hearing.