A local vigilante has been arrested by the Edo State Police Command in Benin City for allegedly k!lling an artisan identified as Lasan Osaze Erhabor and setting his corpse ablaze after falsely labeling him a thief.
The spokesperson of the command, Moses Yamu, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday, February 23, 2025, in Benin City.
Yamu said the suspect was arrested by operatives of the Textile Mill Road Division following a distress call received from members of the public at about 8 a.m. on February 20, 2025.
According to him, the DPO in charge of the Textile Mill Road division received a distress call at 8 a.m. on Thursday, February 20, 2025, from members of the public who had seen the corpse of a middle-aged man covered with sawdust and set ablaze.
“The DPO mobilised and deployed his operatives to the scene and actually found the corpse burning under the sawdust,” the statement read
“They took the corpse to the hospital, but they, however, found that there was a gunshot injury on the back of the deceased’s neck.
“Investigation has already commenced, and we have one suspect in our custody who is the security person of the sawmill at the time the incident happened.”
Yamu said the case has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) for in-depth investigations, assuring that at the conclusion of the investigation, the suspect would be charged to court for murder.
It was gathered that the deceased earlier had a disagreement with the local vigilante member.
On the fateful day, the deceased was said to be returning home late at night with his friend when they were accosted on the road near the sawmill by the suspect.
The suspect, who was alleged to have been armed with a double-barrel gun, was said to have questioned the deceased about why he was returning late.
The suspect was also alleged to have labelled the deceased a thief and accused him of coming to steal in the sawmill.
It was further learned that during the interrogation, the suspect brought out his gun and shot the deceased to d3ath.
He was said to have dragged the deceased from the roadside into the sawmill, where he allegedly gathered the sawdust in the milling company and set his body ablaze.
