Man Allegedly Kills Friend Over N500 Dog Meat In Lagos

27-year-old welder, Sunday Hycenth, has
been arrested by the Lagos state Police
command for allegedly killing his friend,
Onwe Ozoemelem, over a N500 dog meat.
The incident reportedly happened in the
FESTAC Town area of the state. According
to PUNCH Metro , Hycenth and 26-year-old
Ozoemelem had engaged in fisticuffs over
the dog meat bought by their friend.
Sunday allegedly hit the deceased, Onwe
with fist blows on the chest, after which he
slumped and was rushed to a hospital,
where he died.
Hycenth was subsequently arrested by
policemen from the FESTAC division before
the case was transferred to the State
Criminal Investigation and Intelligence
Department, Yaba.
Hycenth hails from the Ezzamgbo area of
Ebonyi State, while the late Ozoemelem was
born in the Ezza North area of the same
state.
The suspect said he worked as a welder
around the Waterside area of FESTAC.
He said on December 30, 2016, when the
incident happened, he was revelling with
his friends when a man bought the dog
meat for them. He said,

“The man that bought
the meat for us is like
a big brother. We
started sharing it in
the order of seniority.
The meat had gone
round and it remained
two pieces for me and
the deceased. He
suddenly picked the
two and ate them. He
then dropped the
plate.
“I challenged him for
eating the meat and
he said the man that
bought it didn’t say I
must also eat from it. I
told him if he needed
to eat meat that badly
he should have gone
back to his village and
that was how the fight
started.”

He explained that after some minutes of
wrestle, they were separated. The suspect
claimed that he later went inside his room
to drink water and change his clothes.
Hycenth said a few minutes afterwards, the
victim began groaning with pain and
complained of chest pains, adding that he
was among those that rushed him to a
hospital in the area.
Hycenth denied responsibility for the death
of his friend.

“I didn’t punch him or
use any object to hit
him. It was just a
normal fight and he
was on top of me
when we were
separated. He told me
he did not smoke
because he had a
chest pain that had
been disturbing him
for some time. I didn’t
kill him,” he added.

Punch adds that the police were awaiting
the result of the autopsy conducted on the
corpse while the families of the victim and
suspect were making plans to bury
Ozoemelem in Ebonyi.
Hycenth was on Thursday arraigned before
an Ebute-Meta Magistrate’s Court on one
count of murder. His plea was not taken
for the charge.
The Police Prosecutor, Inspector Julius
Babatope, asked that the defendant be kept
in prison pending the release of legal
advice from the Directorate of Public
Prosecutions.
But the defence counsel, A.A. Onyiuke,
urged the court to look into the facts of the
case, saying the charge brought by the
police was not appropriate.
The Magistrate, Mrs. M.O. Olajuwon, after
perusing the case file, said the charge
brought by the police was wrong.
She said,

“Both of them were
fighting when one of
them fell and died. So,
it is not murder, but
manslaughter. I am
going to grant him bail
pending the release of
legal advice.”

She subsequently gave the suspect bail in
the sum of N500,000 with two sureties each
in like sum. Olajuwon adjourned the matter
to ........
Alabatvnews.