By Correspondent in Lokoja.
Tragedy took a dramatic twist on Thursday in Lokoja as DSP Adebayo Pelumi, an officer with the Nigeria Correctional Service in Benue State and prime suspect in the murder of online media photographer Ayo Aiyepeku, was found dead in a hotel room, an apparent suicide.
The suspect, DSP Pelumi, reportedly lodged at a popular hotel in Lokoja on Wednesday afternoon.
According to a hotel staff member who pleaded anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the case, his lifeless body was discovered around 1:00 pm on Thursday when a steward attempted to clean the room at checkout time.
The hotel’s management was alerted by the steward’s shocking find and quickly contacted the police.
Officers who arrived at the scene confirmed the deceased to be the suspect they had been hunting, DSP Adebayo Pelumi, already declared wanted in connection with Ayo Aiyepeku’s killing.
Our correspondent gathered that the suspect lured his victim to near by environmental where he forced to drink sniper, killed him and butchered his body into pieces.
The Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, for the Police Command in the state,SP William Ayah, confirmed the incident to newsmen.
He disclosed that the suspect died by suicide and that his corpse had been taken to the mortuary at the Federal Teaching Hospital (FTH), Lokoja.
The late Ayo Aiyepeku, a young and promising photojournalist working with an online media outlet, was reportedly murdered under suspicious circumstances that drew nationwide attention.
The suicide of the alleged killer may close a critical chapter in the investigation, but many questions remain unanswered, including motive, method, and the events leading up to the murder.
The remains of the deceased have been deposited at the Federal Teaching Hospital,FTH,Zlokoga, according to sources
Edited by Dada Ahmed.
