A birthday party that began on a note of merrymaking penultimate Saturday turned bloody after a teenage guest killed the celebrator, Omeika Josiah.
Sources said the party held at the Amini Awo village in Odeda Local Government Area, Ogun State was already in progress when Sunday Philip arrived and was served a bottle of beer and a plate of spiced spaghetti.
It was said that some of the food and drinks belonging to guests at the table where Philip sat erroneously poured on the floor to the chagrin of one Jonah, who tried to move away the sound system from the scene to prevent it from being damaged.
Philip, however, resisted Jonah’s move, leading to a fight between them and a consequent pandemonium at the party.
Philip then ran into a nearby house and fetched a knife, but Josiah, the host, told him not to foment trouble at his birthday party.
Angered by the birthday boy’s comment, Philip drove the knife into his belly and made to flee as Josiah lay in a pool of his blood. He was however apprehended by bystanders, beaten to a pulp and held down while efforts were made to take Josiah to a nearby hospital.
He however died inside the car that was conveying him to the hospital.
Guests at the party were said to have fled in different directions immediately Philip stabbed Josiah and the latter collapsed in a pool of blood.
A source at the party said: “One of the guests named Jonah sent a boy to move the sound system away from the scene when he noticed that food and drinks were pouring on the floor. But Sunday (Philip), an apprentice mechanic, prevented the boy sent by Jonah from taking the jukebox away and seized the sound gadget.
“Jonah tried to take the sound system from Sunday and a fight broke out between them.
“When Sunday realised that he could not overpower Jonah, he rushed to a nearby house and brought out a knife to attack Jonah.
“Unfortunately, on his way back to Jonah, he met the celebrator, Josiah, who warned him not to disrupt his party. But Sunday then became angry that Josiah had taken sides with Jonah, so he stabbed him to death.”
A community leader who spoke in confidence said he was not aware of the plan to hold a party in the village.
He said if the deceased celebrator had told him that he was planning to organise his birthday party, he would have informed the village head, Chief Kunle Aromokun, who would put in place the necessary security measures to prevent any security breach at the event.
‘He said: “It is sad that the life of the celebrator was cut short by an uninvited guest at his own party.
“If the late Josiah had told me that he was going to organise a party to celebrate his birthday, I would have told the Baale (village head), who would have in turn invited members of the Odua Peoples Congress (OPC) to provide security and prevent a breakdown of law and =order at the event.”
It was said that Philip lived on the same street as Josiah, but he was not invited to the party.
Sources said that Philip had gone to work when the party began but later showed up at the event after he was told by one of his older friends who was invited for the party.
One of the guests at the party identified simply as Oladele said: “Sunday (Philip) had left home for work very early in the morning. He had no idea that Josiah was going to throw a birthday party in the neighbourhood.
“He however came to the party when he got wind that it was Josiah’s birthday celebration. Only God knows what came over him when he launched into a fight with another guest and close friend of the celebrator.
“If not for the timely intervention of the community leaders and other residents, he would have been mobbed to death when he was nabbed after he tried to escape from the scene where he stabbed Josiah to death.”
Contacted, the Public Relations Officer of the Ogun State Police Command, Mr Abimbola Oyeyemi, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), promised to get back to our correspondent. He, however, had not done so at press time.
NATION
