A young man, simply identified as Frederick, 20, was on Monday murdered by his friend over his attempt to recover a N2, 000 (Two thousand naira), debt.
Fredrick, it was gathered, was stabbed and he bled to death in the ancient city of Benin, the Edo State capital.
An eyewitness disclosed that trouble began when Frederick went to his debtor-friend, Oruma, to ask for the payment of his N2,000 which the latter had borrowed from him some time ago.
But either Oruma did not want to pay or he did not have the money to pay. Either way, altercation ensued, especially as Frederick insisted on leaving with a prized possession of Oruma as a lien.
According to THISDAY reports, Oruma on his part protested and refused, insisting that Frederick could not leave with anything of his. The eyewitness explained that Oruma showed no remorse or the usual piety of debtors. Rather he was boastful and dared Frederick for a duel.
A scuffle soon ensued between the two friends. The debtor was said to have rushed to the corner of the room and picked a broken bottle, which he thrust into the neck of his creditor friend, and pronto tore open the flesh, having cut some veins on the side of the neck.
Expectedly, blood began to gush out like a broken tap. In no time, the entire frame of Frederick was soaked in his blood.
His sight became gory and scary.
That scare repelled all the taxi drivers that were stopped, so he could be rushed to the hospital. No cab was willing to carry him, what with his blood dripping all over.
Frederick, shortly after, began to lose strength.
The people in the neighbourhood feared he may just slump and die, so they resorted to the rustic option of wheeling Frederick to a nearby hospital, wait for it, in a wheelbarrow!
As if he was condemned by cruel fate, his sympathisers wheeled him to a Government Hospital, whose doctors have been on a stretched strike. There was nobody to treat Frederick. Second slipped into minutes, and minutes into an hour, and gradually, but surely, the eyes of Frederick began to eternally shut. His sympathisers were helpless, or so it seemed. The thought to wheel him elsewhere did not come forth. Perhaps they were hamstrung by financial considerations.
While they dithered, Frederick drew his last breath and went to the great beyond, all in pursuit of his N2,000 debt.
His had been a life of struggle, labouring to eke out a living. The Ebonyi-born young man was said to be working in an ice-cream firm in Benin-city along with his friend, turned debtor, turned killer, Oruma.
Meanwhile, men of the Edo State Police Command were said to have arrived to question Frederick at the hospital before he slipped into a state of unconscious, while the suspect was said to have been arrested.
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