My brother’s corpse was discovered in locked-up metal storage drum, witness tells court

A Prosecution Witness (PW) on Friday told an Ajaokuta High Court sitting in Lokoja, Kogi that the corpse of his alleged murdered brother was found in a locked up metal storage drum behind the house of his suspected killer.

Mr Taiye Ajayi, PW1, made this known while being led in testimony by a prosecuting Counsel, Mr Badama Kadiri, in a culpable Homicide case brought before justice Hauwa Yusuf of Ajaokuta High Court.

Supreme reports that the state ministry of justice charged Francis Julius and Abiodun Yusuf with three counts of criminal conspiracy, theft and culpable Homicide.

They were accused of conspiring and murdering Mr Kehinde Ajayi, 56, at Falele quarters of Lokoja on July 24, 2022.

The police also alleged that they stole the deceased man’s newly bought Toyota Sienna Bus.

Ajayi in his testimony, told the court that when his brother, Kehinde, was murdered, his wife raised an alarm and he immediately reported the matter to the police.

He said that it was in the cause of investigation that the police arrested Julius, who confessed that he killed his brother and said that bus was with the second accused in Abuja.

“It was at that point that police asked him about the whereabout of the corpse of my brother, They said that they buried him at the back of his house.

“The police then asked him to lead the way to the back of his house where the corpse was. On getting there he showed us the place just behind his house as he said.

“He was then ordered to dig the corpse out and surprisingly, as he dug, what we could see was a metal storage drum well locked up buried in a hole.

“To our amazement, he opened the drum and behold the decomposed body of my brother was in it. The police then exhumed the body, which was examined by Pathologists.

“On examining the body, the Pathologists discovered that my brother’s organs were intact and his skull was cracked,” Ajayi said.

When cross/examined by counsel of the 1st and 2nd, Messers A. Ebenu and Umar Ibrahim respectively, Ajayi maintained that the two accused persons allegedly conspired to commit the murder and stole his brother’s bus.

Shortly after the cross examination, the prosecuting Counsel applied for an adjournment to enable him bring in the second prosecution witness for his testimony on the case.

The two defence counsel did not oppose the application.

Justice Yusuf, however, adjourned the case until Jan. 23 for continuation of hearing.