Four individuals suspected of being involved in an armed robbery in Ondo State have been apprehended by the police after one of their gang members was fatally attacked due to a dispute over how to divide their ill-gotten gains.
The arrested suspects are Blessing Okon, 20, Gabriel Japheth, 26, Osha Phenus, 23, and Gbenga Timothy, 22.
MUK TV gathered that the incident occurred on October 28 when they allegedly used machetes to kill one of their gang members, Shahabi Jabi, who they believed had shortchanged them following a robbery.
During their presentation at the police headquarters in Akure, Okon confessed to the crime, explaining that the deceased had cheated them by only giving them N50,000 out of the N200,000 stolen during the robbery.
He recounted, “We were the ones who killed the man. But my friends accused me of telling the police the truth—that we killed him. It was ‘Black’ Japheth, who cut him with a cutlass. All of us, including the deceased, used to rob. After our last operation, we realized N200,000, but he decided to give the three of us N50,000 instead of sharing it equally.”
Japheth, however, denied being the one who carried out the attack, stating, “I wasn’t the one that cut the man. I was only implicated because I followed them to the scene. It was after others were arrested that I was mentioned to be part of those that killed him.”
The Commissioner of Police, Abiodun Asabi, addressed the situation and said, “On October 28, the Police informed us about an attack, that one Shahabi Jadi, ‘m’, was macheted to death along Ehinowo camp via Ondo town. Upon receipt of the information, the police, through intelligence gathering, arrested one Blessing Okon, ‘m’, 20. During interrogation, the young man gave viable information that led to the arrest of the suspects. The suspect further stated that the deceased was a member of their robbery squad, but they had a scuffle when he cheated them and refused to give them their share of the proceeds.”
Asabi also noted that other suspects, who will soon face legal action, have been apprehended by the command.