Photo: Man kills roommate during fight over cooking pot in Lagos

A 20 year old man named Ngwuta Nweke has been arrested by men of the Lagos State Police Command for allegedly killing his roommate, Emeka James, at their apartment at Kadara slum, close to Sawmill, Ebute Metta Lagos during a fight over a cooking pot.

According to a Punch report, the incident happened on the 22nd of March 2014.

While being paraded before pressmen, Nweke said that he never intended to kill his friend. He said as they were fighting, he held James' neck and mistakenly strangled him to death. Continue...

He explains

"On the day of the incident, I had some stew in a pot and James told me to empty the pot because he wanted to make use of it. I told him that I could not pour the stew anywhere and he should be patient, but he got angry. In a fit of rage, he picked up the pot and poured the stew into a dirty container. I also got angry and we started fighting. I grabbed him from behind and as we were struggling, we both fell to the ground. When I got up, I realised that James was no longer breathing.” James was quickly rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide while confirming the incident said;

"On the fateful day, around 12.30pm, Nweke strangled James who lived in an apartment at Kadara slum, close to Sawmill, Ebute Meta, during a fight over a cooking pot. The corpse has been deposited at the Mainland Hospital Mortuary, Yaba, while the matter is under investigation at the State Criminal Investigation Department, Yaba.”

The landlord of the house said;

"I have known James since 2011 when he started living in the house. He was a good person and was very hardworking. He was a hawker, but when the state government began a clamp down of their activities, he started doing other menial jobs. I never knew anyone was living with James. It was when I was invited by the police that I saw the guy (Nweke) for the first time.”

The victim