An operative of the Department of State Security in Osun State Command, simply identified as Abiodun, allegedly stabbed and injured an estate agent, Oladele Omosola, during a disagreement over the settlement of electricity bill.
Sources in Tinumola Estate, Osogbo, where the incident happened, said Omosola, being the agent in charge of the building Abiodun lives in, had approached him to pay for electricity Tuesday evening.
It was further learnt that both Omosola and Abiodun exchanged hot words, over the issue which made the DSS operative leave the scene in anger, only to reappear a few minutes after with a jack knife, which he reportedly used to stab the agent on the thigh.
A resident of Tinumola Estate, Tosin Moronkola, while speaking with PUNCH Metro on Wednesday said, that immediately after the act was perpetrated, other residents made an effort to effect Abiodun’s arrest.
Moronkola, however, said some DSS operatives that Abiodun had called, who arrived at the scene of the crime before the police, refused to hand him over but took him to their head office in Osogbo.
He further said, “The matter that transpired between them (Abiodun and Oladele), has to do with the payment of electricity bill. Oladele is the agent in charge of the house where the DSS operative resides. The agent asked him for money for electricity bill and he said he doesn’t have money.
“The agent said he ought to have paid since 16th of August and Abiodun just ran inside his apartment and took a jack knife which he used to stab Oladele on the thigh. The victim nearly died but we rushed him to a private hospital for treatment. He is still there.
“We ran to the police to report him but some DSS operatives that the police met at the scene of the crime refuse to release him. They took him to their office.”
Moronkola, though said a Deputy Director from Osun Command of the DSS on Wednesday visited the victim at the hospital, and demanded adequate punishment for Abiodun to serve as a deterrent.
Also speaking on the issue, Oladele said he had approached Abiodun twice to demand payment for electricity, and he promised to pay, the promise he did not fulfill.
“I told him that the bill for electricity had been brought and you supposed to pay on the 16th of August and he said he would pay. On the 22nd of August, I reminded him and said he would pay.
“Yesterday, I went to him to ask for the money and he asked what money I was talking about. He just went inside and took a jack knife and stabbed me. That was the last thing I could remember,” Oladele said.
But a DSS operative, who preferred anonymity, during a chat with our correspondent, said Oladele and Abiodun actually got into a fight over a more serious issue besides payment for the electricity bill, as residents of the area thought he was a cultist since they did not know the kind of job he was going.
The operative said Abiodun had to use the knife on the agent after he was beaten up and his life was endangered, adding that the suspect personally called his office to report the incident.
(Punch)
