Labourer, 24, beheads farmer in Ondo
An Ondo State Chief Magistrate Court sitting in Akure has ordered the remand of a man, Sunday Clement, in prison custody for the alleged murder of Taye Olatoye, a farmer.
The 24-year-old labourer was arrested by officers of the state police command and was later charged to court and arraigned on a one-count charge of murder.
The defendant was said to have killed the deceased on his way to farm at Ofosu community, in Idanre Local Government Area of the state.
Reports say that on the fateful day, Clement and Alatoye were both going to the farm, when Clement suddenly moved backward, removed his sharpened cutlass, and cut the victim on his neck, leaving his head dangling.
According to the prosecutor, Mary Adebayo, the defendant committed the offense on September 4, 2023, at about 2:30 p.m. at Baba Odun Camp, Ofosu, in the Odigbo Local Government Area of the state.
Adebayo said the offence committed contravened Sections 316 and 319 of the Criminal Code Law, Cap 37 Vol. II Law of Ondo State, 2006.
She prayed the court to remand the defendant at the correctional centre, Olokuta, Akure, pending the outcome of advice from the Director of Public Prosecutions.
In her ruling, Folasade Aduroja, the Chief Magistrate, granted the prosecutor’s request and ordered the remand of the defendant in prison, and also directed that the case file be duplicated and sent to the DPP for advice. She then adjourned the case until November 28, 2023.
The defendant who pleaded for clemency said he committed the act under the influence of hard drugs.
He said, “We were both going, and we greeted each other on the path. The spirit just came over me to cut off Taye’s head. I can’t actually say what led to it. I think it was the ‘ice’ I took in the hot sun.”
