Some yet-to-be-identified hired thugs have beaten a 28-year-old man identified as Kingsley Okoye, to death for allegedly stealing and selling his elder brother’s doors from a construction site.
The incident, PUNCH Metro gathered, happened in Okpuno Umuogali community of Oba in Idemili South Local Government Area of Anambra State, on Sunday.
The deceased was accused of selling some “foreign doors” he allegedly removed from a yet-to-be-completed building belonging to his overseas-based elder brother, Joseph Okoye, who was said to have invited the thugs to torture him; only for them to end up beating him to death.
An eyewitness and cousin to the deceased, Kosisochukwu Uzoekwe, who disclosed the development to journalists on Tuesday, said there had been a lingering issue between the two brothers over the sale of a family property.
He said, “My cousin, Joseph Okoye, the elder brother of the late Kingsley Okoye from Okpuno Umuogali in Oba, who lives abroad, earlier sold one of their immediate family’s property and refused to share the money realised from the sale of the property with his brother.
“Since then, life had been difficult for Kingsley because he thought he could have used his share from the proceeds as a capital to establish himself.
“Recently, his elder brother began to build a house in Oba here. So, out of hunger and frustration, when Kingsley learnt that his elder brother just purchased some foreign doors to install in his new house, he went to the site, removed three doors and sold, saying that he needed the money to buy food.
“On hearing that Kingsley sold three of the doors from his building site, Joseph sent some money to his sister, and instructed her to arrange some thugs to beat him up and teach him the lesson of his life.”
He said the sister contracted two notorious thugs who came to Okpuno Umuogali to beat Kingsley up, noting that when the people intervened, they whisked him off on a bike. He claimed the thugs took Kingsley to an unknown destination where they beat him to a pulp.
“When they discovered that Kingsley was no longer responding, they took him to Sahara Hospital, Oba, where the doctor confirmed that he was brought in dead. As the doctor rejected him, they took his corpse to FAH Hospital and Embalment Centre, where he was deposited in the morgue.”
Uzoekwe further noted that the trio had been at large and switched off their mobile phones since after the incident, making it difficult to contact or reach them after the heinous crime.
When contacted, the sister to the deceased, identified as Ebele, who was said to have mobilised the thugs on the instruction of Joseph, did not deny the fact that the brother sponsored the torturing of the late Kingsley for selling the doors.
She, however, claimed that she was not the person who was given the money to contract the thugs, adding that it was Joseph’s fiancee from Umuorabem village, Oba, who was around on the day of the incident.
“I am very sad because of the turn of events. Despite the several pleadings I and my mother made to Joseph to forgive Kingsley for selling just three pieces of his doors, he went ahead to arrange with his fiancee from Umuorabem who told his brother to contract people I do not know to beat up our brother, resulting to his unfortunate death.
“Everyone is pointing accusing fingers at me that I was the one who received money from my brother, Joseph, to arrange the people that beat Kingsley to death; but it is not so. I went to the graduation of my children that fateful Sunday, only for Joseph to call me on phone from abroad, informing me by himself that Kingsley died in the hands of the people his fiancee and her brother called to discipline on his instructions,” she narrated.
Reacting to the allegation, when contacted, the accused, Joseph, who regretted his actions said that he never intended to hurt or kill his younger brother, but only wanted some boys to find out from his brother where he kept the three doors, so as to recover them for his building project.
He said, “I have already tendered my statement to the Oba Divisional Police Officer at the police station. My brother had been stealing from my building site, and last Friday night, July 19, 2024, my workers discovered that three foreign doors which I bought for N85,000 each were missing; and all fingers were pointing at my brother, Kingsley.
“I told my mother and sister to help me beg Kingsley to bring back my doors or tell me who he sold them to, but he denied stealing them. On Saturday, July 20, 2024, I now contacted some boys from Umumpama Oba to beat him and find out the whereabouts of the doors; and then Kingsley confessed that he stole those doors with two of his friends and sold them to a wielder at N15,000 each.
“While they were beating him, I was with them on video call that Saturday and they assured me that Kingsley was still alive. I told them to take him to the nearest hospital for treatment after his confession.
“Surprisingly, I was shocked to hear from one of those boys on Sunday, July 21, 2024, that my brother, Kingsley, was dead. I asked them what happened and I could not configure their story. I later heard from the doctor that he was brought in dead and that one of the thugs identified as ‘Jukwaaese’ and his boys ran away as soon he was confirmed dead.
“My sister said that there was matchet cuts all over Kingsley’s body, dripping with blood at the mortuary. But that was not the case on Saturday when I was following up the interrogation on video call.”
When contacted, a senior officer in the Oba Police Division, who pleaded anonymity, confirmed that the matter had been reported to them and that investigations had begun.
