When on Wednesday 29-year-old Saheed Badmus went
to a viewing centre on Lamina Street, Egbe, Lagos State, to watch the
UEFA
Champions League semi-final match between Chelsea Football Club and Atletico
Madrid, little did he know that was the last match he would ever watch.
PUNCH Metro learnt that the graduate of a Polytechnic in Ekiti was stabbed to death by a barber identified only as
Yemi, during an argument that broke out at the viewing centre.
Our correspondent, who visited the scene on
Thursday, observed a large crowd on the street talking about the incident.
Saheed’s friends took our correspondent to a
portion of the street where spinkles of Saheed’s blood could be seen.
They told PUNCH Metro that passions were
high at the viewing centre as most of the Chelsea fans were desperate to see
their team qualify.
It was learnt that during the match, Saheed stood
up and Yemi shouted at him and told him to sit down as he was blocking him from
viewing the match on the screen.
An elderly man was said to have cautioned Yemi
against shouting, but Yemi insulted the elderly man.
A friend to the deceased, Muyideen Waheed, told
our correspondent that an argument then ensued between the barber and Saheed.
He said, “Yemi was shouting and one elderly man
told him to keep quiet, but he shouted the man down. Saheed then cautioned
against shouting at an elderly man. Yemi attacked him.
“The owner of the centre pushed both Yemi and
Saheed out of the place and locked them out.”
It was learnt that once they got outside, Yemi
picked up a bottle from a nearby pub and stabbed Saheed.
It was learnt that as Saheed ran for his life,
Yemi chased him and then stabbed him in the face.
Waheed told PUNCH Metro that when some of
the viewers came out, they saw the deceased’s lying in a pool of blood.
He said they rushed him to two hospitals, but he
was rejected.
He said, “There was power failure and everywhere
was dark. Most of us were inside the viewing centre, so we did not hear Saheed
scream. When we came out, we saw him lying in a pool of blood. We rushed him to
Obeeh Hospital, but he was rejected. We then took him to Bisalam Hospital, but
he was referred to Igando General Hospital.
“On getting to Igando, he was pronounced dead.”
Residents described Yemi as a violent man who had
on several occasions attacked youths in the area.
While lifting up his shirt, Waheed said, “You see
this scar on my chest. It was a stab wound inflicted on me by Yemi.”
Our correspondent, who visited Saheed’s mother’s
house, learnt that he was her youngest son.
The mother, Isiwatu, while weeping profusely,
said she was pained that she did not live to reap the fruit of her labour.
“My son was a gentle man. We lived together and
he was responsible. I still saw him on Wednesday before he went to watch the
match. I struggled to send him to school and now, all is wasted. He had no wife
and child.
“Yemi has stolen my joy and I want him arrested
and sentenced to death for his crime. This was not a case of two people
fighting. It was an outright murder.”
It was learnt that after killing the deceased,
Yemi fled to his father’s home, but his father alerted the police and he was
arrested by policemen from the Ikotun Police Division.
When our correspondent visited the police
station, Yemi was seen writing his statement.
Yemi’s father, who refused to identify himself,
described his son as a troublemaker and wondered where he got the behaviour
from.
He said, “I hardly see my son. Sometimes, I don’t
see him for as long as three months. He just came to my house last night
(Wednesday), crying. He told me that he had stabbed someone at a viewing
centre.
“I reported him to the police. I don’t know why
he went to watch the match in the first place. What kind of trouble is all
this?
“When I saw the picture of the boy he stabbed, I
shed tears because it is every parent’s worst nightmare.”
Source:Punch Newspaper.
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