A 24-year-old laborer named Sunday Clement has been ordered by an Akure Chief Magistrate Court to be held in the Olokuta Correctional Centre. This action comes after he was accused of beheading a 30-year-old farmer named Taye Alatoye.
Clement, whose address was not disclosed, was apprehended by the Ondo State Police Command for allegedly committing this act while the victim was on his way to the farm.
On the day of the incident, it was reported that Clement and Alatoye were en route to the farm when Clement suddenly moved backward, brandished a sharp cutlass, and fatally injured the victim by slashing his neck, causing his head to hang without any apparent motive.
Subsequently, Clement was brought before the court and charged with the crime of murder.
According to the police prosecutor, Mary Adebayo, the defendant committed this act on September 4, 2023, around 2:30 pm at Baba Odun Camp, Ofosu in Odigbo Local Government Area of the state. Adebayo informed the court that the defendant had killed Alatoye by attacking him with a cutlass, leading to his demise.
This offense is in violation of Sections 316 and 319 of the Criminal Code Law, Cap 37 Vol. II Law of Ondo State, 2006.
During a remand application presented by Adebayo, the court was urged to detain the defendant at the Olokuta Correctional Centre until the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) provides guidance on the case.
The defendant, who pleaded for forgiveness, informed the court that on the ill-fated day, he had consumed a potent drug called Crystal methamphetamine, also known as ‘ice,’ and marijuana, and was on his way to work on his own plot of land on the farm.
“We were both going, and we greeted each other on the road path,” he said.
“The spirit just told me to go backward and I did. All my eyes were blocked and I heard another voice that instructed me to cut the man with the cutlass in my hand, which I did.
“Immediately I did it, I came back to my senses and started crying before I was eventually apprehended by the police, “ the defendant explained.
Chief Magistrate Folasade Aduroja, did not take Clement’s plea for want of jurisdiction.
Granting the prosecutor’s request, Aduroja ordered the remand of the defendant in the Custodial Centre and also directed that the case file be duplicated and sent to the DPP for advice.
Aduroja adjourned the case till November 28, 2023.
