Segun Atanda/
The long arm of the Law has caught up with a driver, who fled after he attempted to kill an American visitor by smashing his head with a pestle in Lagos almost three weeks ago.
He was unmasked today at the Zone ‘2’ police headquarters in Lagos as Orabe Phillips Leo, and the American whose head was smashed with a pestle, on August 25, was identified as Mr Robert Bob Wheeler.
Video of the attack had gone viral on social media when sympathizers who rescued the victim uploaded recordings of the gory scene to expose the crime.
The police in Lagos had told Newsmakers then that it was not reported at any station.
Today, Zone ‘2’ police spokesperson, SP Dolapo Badmos, gave details of how Mr Wheeler was picked up at the airport by the suspect who once worked with him at Tony Elumelu Foundation in 2015.
Badmos revealed in a statement: “The suspect drove the victim to his house at Adeniyi Street, Ikorodu, where he was to reside till his return to US. The victim was attacked by his host at midnight and was left in his pool of blood after which the suspect fled.
“The Zone ‘2’ command received the distress call and its operatives were dispatched to launch a manhunt for the suspect while the victim was rushed to the hospital.
“On the 8th of September, upon intelligence gathering, the suspect was arrested from his hideout within Ikorodu.”
According to Badmos, when the suspect was interrogated by the AIG in charge of Zone ‘2’, Mr Ibrahim Adamu, he confessed to have clubbed the victim’s head with a pestle three times.
He allegedly confessed to the police that the victim had reneged on his promise to give him an unspecified amount of money that he had promised him. .
When asked why he would kill a man because of unfulfilled promise, the suspect said that he had invested so much in his effort to get money from the white man since he consulted a white garment church where he was given a charm to use on the man but was deeply angered when the victim didn’t obey his instructions.
Badmos said that investigation was ongoing, as the AIG had directed to ensure they unravel the mysteries surrounding the case.
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