by ‘Jola Sotubo

A driver in Abuja is said to have taken his own life after being accused of stealing a phone.

The deceased, identified simply as Aki, was said to have stolen his neighbour’s phone valued at N15,000.

Aki allegedly confessed to the crime and promised to compensate the owner by selling off some of his electronics.

Leadership reports:

The build-up to his death began Thursday when a certain Ms Loveth Chidoke reported that her GSM phone was missing and it was alleged that she uncovered that her phone was missing when she went to fetch water from the stream.

She was said to have hurriedly returned home where she was told that the late Aki was the one who stole it and a few minutes later, the deceased was said to have returned but denied stealing the phone upon enquiry.

According to Chidoke, “Aki was the only person who entered the compound when I left. Before I came back, he had left the house. I couldn’t run after him because I was half-dressed. He had gone out of the compound. I had always given him the phone which I bought not long ago for N15,000 to charge.”

Chidoke said Aki was exposed when a diviner revealed that he stole the phone and that Aki later confessed to the crime but said he had sold the phone for N5,000 and threw the SIM cards into a river.

The deceased was said to have promised that he would sell his electronics to refund the money.

However, on Friday, Aki’s lifeless body was discovered along the road leading to the stream. The death was later reported at the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) Academy located in the area.

The chief security officer of the academy, Edwin Ugwuja, an assistant commandant, who confirmed the incident to LEADERSHIP said, “When I came to the office this morning around 7am, I was notified that somebody hanged himself here in the village. I mobilised my men and came to the scene of the incident. As it is, investigation will be carried out. We took his corpse to the Nigerian Air Force Base hospital for confirmation.”