One Akpan Okon Akpan, a roadside petrol seller, has been arrested for allegedly setting ablaze his friend following a disagreement over a phone charger, the police in Akwa Ibom have said.
The Commissioner of Police, Olatoye Durosinmi disclosed this while parading the suspect alongside other suspects who engaged in various crimes at the command headquarters, Ikot Akpanabia, Uyo.
He said the suspect, a roadside petrol seller, had at the middle of the altercation with his friend poured petrol on him and ignited a match which caused the victim’s death.
According to the CP, “On 15th December, 2022 relying on petition from Rev. Emmanuel Ime ‘m’ of Ikot Ekwere Ubium Village in Nsit Ublum LGA, at about 6:30pm, operatives of the homicide unit of the SCID Uyo, arrested one Akpan Okon Akpan ‘m’ of same address who poured fuel on his brother, one Junior Ime Philip and set him ablaze leading to his death because of a disagreement over a phone charger.”
Upon interrogation, the suspect admitted to the crime, saying that he was forced to kill the deceased because he was the first that started a fight with him.
Narrating how the incident took place, the suspect said: “I don’t know the guy before, he ran into my shop and said he was looking for someone who collected his charger, I told him that such a person was not in my shop. Out of anger, he took a bottle and started fighting me and I fought back.
“I used the petrol I sell and poured on him, honestly I didn’t know what I was doing until he started burning and people gathered, we were trying to put out the fire but it was already late because when they took him to hospital, he died there.”
