Trader kills customer over price of commodity

A 22-year-old man, Isa Yaya, has been killed for haggling over the price of a commodity. Punch reports that he was killed by the seller of the item in question, Lawrence Ikonne who sold electronic appliances at the Alaba International Market, Ojo, Lagos.

The deceased, Isa Yaya.....Photo credit: PUNCH/Olaleye Aluko

Yaya, who usually bought and re-sold condemned iron and electrical materials, had reportedly gone to Ikonne’s apartment on Afro Close, Afromedia Estate, Okokomaiko, to buy a fairly used air conditioner.

The newspaper reports that Ikonne, 26, had invited the deceased to his house to buy his second-hand air conditioner, adding: “When they got to the house, it was said that the two of them went inside a room to bring out the commodity, and they started haggling over the price.

It was gathered that Yaya insisted on buying the air conditioner below N5, 000- a price which did not go down well with Ikonne.

As the haggling continued, a fight was said to have ensued between the two which turned violent during which Ikonne allegedly hit Yaya with a plank in the belly.

During interrogation, the suspect explained that he had asked Yaya to either pay N5, 000 or assist him to return the commodity to where they brought it from but Yaya had refused. Ikonne added that he felt insulted by this attitude”.

Explaining his own side of the story, Ikonne, who is currently being held by the police, said: “I had not met the young man before. I met him that morning at the Alaba market, and asked him to buy one of my appliances: an air conditioner. He actually looked like a cart pusher. When we got home, we both went in to remove the product, and we brought it outside for negotiation.

“As we continued, he said he would pay less than N5, 000. I replied that he should assist me to return it to where we took it from, but he refused. In the process, we started fighting. He even asked me to pay him for helping me bring it out. I was mad, and I hit his belly with a plank.

“When I realised he had fainted, I tied him with a rope and dragged him into a corner. I also fled the house.”

It was gathered that Yaya’s tied up corpse was discovered by one of Ikonne’s co-tenants who raised an alarm and reported the case to the Okokomaiko police station.