Alaba Trader Kills Customer During Price Negotiation

                                                                          Late Yaya

The Lagos State Police Command has arrested a trader, Mr.
Lawrence Ikonne, for allegedly killing a buyer, Isa Yaya, because the deceased
haggled over the price of a commodity.

The incident occurred at Ikonne’s residence on Afro Close,
Afromedia Estate, Okokomaiko, Lagos. Ikonne is a trader selling electronic
appliances at Alaba International Market, Ojo, Lagos.

It was learnt that the victim, 22-year-old Yaya, from
northern Nigeria, had gone to Ikonne’s apartment to buy a fairly used air
conditioner. Yaya, it was said, usually bought and re-sold condemned iron and
electrical materials.

Punch gathered that Ikonne, 26, from the Isiala-Ngwa South
Local Government Area of Abia State, had gone to Alaba market on the morning of
Friday, October 10, where he first met Yaya, then invited him to his house to buy
his fairly used air conditioner.

When they got to the house, it was said that the two of them
went inside a room to bring out the commodity, and they started haggling over
the price.

It was gathered that Yaya insisted on buying the air
conditioner below N5, 000- a price which did not go down well with Ikonne.

As the haggling continued, a fight was said to have ensued
between the two which turned violent during which Ikonne allegedly hit Yaya
with a plank in the belly.

During interrogation, the suspect explained that he had
asked Yaya to either pay N5, 000 or assist him to return the commodity to where
they brought it from but Yaya had refused. Ikonne added that he felt insulted
by this attitude.

He said, “I had not met the young man before. I met him that
morning at the Alaba market, and asked him to buy one of my appliances: an air
conditioner. He actually looked like a cart pusher. When we got home, we both
went in to remove the product, and we brought it outside for negotiation.

“As we continued, he said he would pay less than N5, 000. I
replied that he should assist me to return it to where we took it from, but he
refused. In the process, we started fighting. He even asked me to pay him for
helping me bring it out. I was mad, and I hit his belly with a plank.

“When I realised he had fainted, I tied him with a rope and
dragged him into a corner. I also fled the house.”

Our correspondent gathered that it was one of Ikonne’s
co-tenants who noticed Yaya’s corpse where he was tied up.

He then raised the alarm, and reported the case to the
Okokomaiko police station. The policemen later came to arrest Ikonne.

The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Kenneth
Nwosu, said he would call our correspondent back on the matter. He, however,
had yet to do so as of press time.

Meanwhile, our correspondent gathered that Ikonne had been
transferred to the State Criminal Investigations Department, Yaba, and he would
be charged to court soon.