The custody of a 24-year-old laborer called Sunday Clement in the Olokuta Correctional Center has been ordered by an Akure Chief Magistrate Court.
This decision is in relation to the suspected beheading of Taye Alatoye, a 30-year-old farmer.
Clement, whose address was not given, was captured by the Ondo State Police Command after allegedly murdering the victim as they were on their way to the property.
According to reports, as Clement and Alatoye were walking to the farm on the day of the occurrence, Clement unexpectedly moved backward, wielded a sharpened cutlass, and inflicted a fatal gash on the victim’s neck, decapitating him for no apparent reason.
As a result, he was taken before the court and charged with murder.
The defendant committed this felony on September 4, 2023, at 2:30 p.m., at Baba Odun Camp in Ofosu, Odigbo Local Government Area of the state, according to the police prosecutor, Mary Adebayo. Adebayo informed the court that the defendant fatally struck Alatoye on the neck with a cutlass, resulting in his death.
This offense violates Sections 316 and 319 of the Ondo State Criminal Code Law, Cap. 37, Vol. II, 2006.
During the hearings, Adebayo requested that the defendant be detained at the Olokuta Correctional Center until the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) provided guidance on the matter.
In response, the defendant, pleading for pardon, told the court that on the fateful day, he had consumed hard drugs, namely Crystal methamphetamine, also known as ‘ice,’ and marijuana before heading to the farm to work on his own land.
“We were both walking, and we exchanged greetings on the path,” he said. “Suddenly, a voice told me to take a step back, which I did. My eyesight blurred, and I heard another voice tell me to hit the man with the cutlass I was holding, which I did.”
He continued by saying that shortly after committing the act, he came to his senses and started crying.
Due to jurisdictional limits, Chief Magistrate Folasade Aduroja declined to hear Clement’s plea. Aduroja ordered the defendant’s remand in the Custodial Centre at the request of the prosecutor and requested that the case file be duplicated and submitted to the DPP for direction.
The lawsuit has been postponed until November 28, 2023.
