correctional officer, Adebayo Pelumi, who was declared wanted over the killing of a photojournalist, Ayo Aiyepekun, in Lokoja, Kogi State, has reportedly committed suicide.
Pelumi, who served with the Nigeria Correctional Service, was said to have lodged in a hotel on Wednesday afternoon and was found dead in the room around 1 pm on Thursday.
His body was discovered by a hotel staff member during routine cleanup at checkout time.
According to a hotel worker who spoke on condition of anonymity, the management immediately alerted the police, who identified the deceased as the prime suspect in Aiyepekun’s murder.
The police later deposited Pelumi’s remains at the morgue of the Federal Teaching Hospital, Lokoja.
Aiyepekun, a photojournalist with InsideStory online media, was killed last Tuesday evening in his compound, allegedly by Pelumi, who was his neighbour.
An eyewitness account from someone who worked with the InsideStory online media, where late Aiyepekun worked, said he was in the office with the victim, editing some videos and photos, when the suspect called the victim to help him out on his poultry farm, which was inside the same compound.
The source said it was around 8:30 pm when the suspect called him, but he didn’t know that Ayo was not the only person in the office, and immediately Ayo got out to meet Adebayo, he hit him with an iron repeatedly and killed him there.
The eyewitness said he saw the suspect lifting the body into a deep freezer before moving the body into his Hilux Van, prompting him to raise the alarm.
Local vigilantes were contacted and chased the fleeing suspect, who crashed his vehicle after they shot at his tyres. He then escaped on foot and went into hiding.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, William Aya, confirmed the latest development, saying, “Yes, it is confirmed, the suspect has committed suicide.”
