Lagos man dies after assault over missing phone
A young man identified simply as Azeez has died after he was allegedly assaulted by suspected cult members following a dispute over a missing phone in Oko-Oba, Agege, Lagos State.
A police source told PUNCH Metro on Sunday that the incident occurred on Monday, August 3.
According to the source, Azeez had an argument with some colleagues after they attended a party where a phone was reported missing.
The argument later escalated into an assault on Azeez by some of the men, who were reportedly known to him.
“We got a report that he passed away because of an assault on him by some suspected cultists said to be his friends. The argument was as a result of a missing phone,” the source said.
The source added that Azeez later died from injuries sustained during the assault.
An anti-cultism advocacy platform, Naija Confra, gave further details in a post on Saturday, claiming that the incident began during a birthday celebration on Sunday night, August 2.
According to the platform, a fight broke out at the celebration, during which a man identified as Abela allegedly took a phone and handed it to Azeez.
The platform alleged that trouble began when the owner of the phone started searching for it.
It claimed that after the phone was found in Azeez’s possession, the owner and his friends confronted him. Azeez reportedly told them that Abela had given him the phone to keep.
The platform further alleged that Abela denied giving Azeez the phone, after which the owner and his friends attacked Azeez before leaving the venue.
It claimed that Azeez later confronted Abela over the alleged denial, resulting in another argument and further assault.
Naija Confra alleged that Azeez was subsequently taken to another location by suspected members of the Neo-Black Movement, where he was assaulted.
The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Adebisi, could not be reached for comment. Calls to her telephone lines went unanswered, while a text message sent to her had not received a response as of the time of filing this report.
