27-year-old apprentice killed boss, dumps body in well in Ondo

A 27-year-old man, Savior Joseph, has been killed by his apprentice, Josiah Godwin, 20, in Ondo State.

Godwin is accused of dumping his master’s corpse inside a well after allegedly killing him.

The incident happened at Imafon Community, in Akure South Local Government Area of the State.

The problem started when the deceased, who specialised in fixing POP ceilings, smashed the phone of the suspect on the floor over a dispute and the suspect attacked the deceased in retaliation.

According to the elder brother of the deceased, Odey Julius Ogbaji, Joseph’s body was found four days ago in a well at the site where he (deceased) and the apprentice went to work.

The brother said: “Last week, on Tuesday, the deceased called me in the morning, and we spoke; on Wednesday, I tried his number but couldn’t get through, I thought he had a flat battery.

“It wasn’t until Saturday that I was called by another younger brother of mine, briefing me on how efforts to reach the deceased have been abortive.

“Afterwards, the deceased’s apprentice was contacted. When they got the boy, they asked him about the whereabouts of his master and he said his boss woke him up at night, collected his phone, smashed it on the floor and began to beat him and later asked him to go back and sleep.

“He said the following day, he decided to leave the site. So, we asked him how he would wake up in the morning without seeing his boss and leave the site. He said he thought his master went to a toilet when he left.

“When we checked the phone, he said it had been smashed on the floor by the deceased, but there was no scratch on it.

“Aside from that, you switched off your phone and you didn’t report anything to anybody.”

Meanwhile, the suspect has been arrested and transferred to the Police Criminal Investigative Department, CID, at the Police headquarters, Akure, for further investigation.

Confirming the development, the Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, in the state, Funmilayo Odunlami-Omisayan, said the suspect is now in custody.

“The boy was angry, killed his boss and threw his body inside a well. The matter has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigative Department.