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A food vendor stabbed his customer to death in Yaba, Lagos, over a N50 loaf of bread.
Reports said the deceased identified as Ajayi Peters, had tried to convince the vendor, Yinka, to sell a loaf to one of his customers on credit.
It was learnt that there was an argument between the men and in the ensuing scuffle, Yinka grabbed a knife and stabbed the deceased in the head. He died in a private hospital.
The incident happened at a roundabout on Church Street, Makoko, Yaba, where Yinka sold bread on a slab.
Punch quoted a witness as saying: “The incident happened on Tuesday, June 16, around 11pm. The man that died was collecting fees from traders. He and Buredi (Yinka) had been having issues because Ajana (Peters) and some members of his group sometimes threw away his goods whenever they had problems with him.
“But on that day, a man had approached him to buy N50 loaf of bread on credit. The bread seller started shouting at the customer that he should not come near his bread because he was not ready to sell on credit.
“At a point, Buredi said, ‘No powerful man on this street can take the loaf from me and give you.’”
It was learnt that the deceased, who felt insulted by the veiled reference to him, asked the suspect to give the customer the loaf.
This was said to have aggravated the case as both men took turns to insult each other.
Another resident, who did not identify himself, said Peters pushed the suspect.
“The bread seller fell to the ground. In anger, he picked a knife and stabbed Ajana in the head. He started bleeding.
“But not realising the seriousness of the injuries, Ajana began to look for a weapon with which to attack back,” the resident added.
It was learnt that the suspect fled the scene, while Peters walked down to a private hospital on the street.
A doctor attended to him and stitched the wound but a woman, who was reportedly close to the victim, said, “But the injury was deeper than we thought. He died from the injuries around 4am.”
It was learnt that the bread vendor, who was unaware of the development, was tricked by some people in the community to come for a truce meeting.
A resident, Solomon Ojo, said, “The bread seller did not know Ajana had died. He thought he was only injured and had treated himself.
“When he was called in the morning for a truce meeting, he was surrounded by some youths in the area who wanted to kill him. But some community leaders prevailed on them to hand him over to the police.”
The suspect was said to have been arrested by policemen from the Adekunle division, while the corpse of the deceased was deposited in a mortuary.