Two friends in Nigeria, Noah Tovohome and Rajay Zannu, have been remanded to a correctional centre by a Magistrate’s Court in Lagos State for allegedly murdering their friend, Segun Zusu, over 36 bags of rice.
The duo appeared before Magistrate Linda Balogun on Tuesday on charges of murder.
According to reports, Tovohome and Zannu conspired with a boat driver who was transporting Zusu’s goods from Seme to steal the bags of rice and kill him in the process. The incident has left the community in shock and disbelief.
It was gathered in court that the defendants, Tovohome and Zannu, plotted with a boat driver who was conveying Zusu’s goods from Seme to kill him and steal the bags of rice.
However, on that day, they intercepted the boat around 2 am, at Novo River in Seme, used a plank to beat Zusu up, and threw him inside the river. They thereafter carried the bags of rice to Badagry, sold them for about N1.4m to a businesswoman and shared the money.
The prosecutor, Inspector Benson Emuerhi, informed the court that the police received a report about the incident and immediately launched an investigation. During the investigation, Tovohome and Zannu were arrested and charged with murder.
The charges read in part, “That you, Noah Tovohome, 27, Rajay Zannu, 38 and others at large, on November 12, 2023, around 2 am, at Novo River, Seme, Lagos State, in the Lagos Magisterial District, did unlawfully kill one 26-year-old Segun Zusu, by hitting a plank on his head and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 222 and punishable under Section 223 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2015.”
The pleas of the defendants were not taken.
Okeh prayed the court to remand them to a correctional centre pending the outcome of legal advice from the office of the Directorate of Public Prosecutions.
Magistrate Balogun granted the prayer and ordered that the defendant be remanded to the Kirikiri Correctional Centre pending the outcome of legal advice from the DPP.
Balogun also adjourned the case till January 22, 2024, for the DPP’s advice.
