Man, 28, “murdered over N7.5m bet ticket” in Nasarawa
The family of have been left in a state of mourning after their son, Achuku Vincent Joseph was allegedly murdered over a N7.4 million bet ticket.
The 28-year-old Nasarawa native, according to his father, Aruma, had been troubled since winning the sum, until his body was found, with several machete cuts, by the roadside on April 15.
Achuku had allegedly won the sum on the NaijaBet betting platform.
Aruma said that his family suspected Achuku’s friends and the bet agent were behind the murder.
“On Tuesday, around 5am, my son came into my room and told me that thieves were in our house in the night and they entered his room to steal his plasma TV and a NaijaBet ticket slip with which he won N7.4m,” Aruma told Daily Trust.
“Later, some of his friends came into the house, shouting that they would not agree because the NaijaBet agent knows about those who stole the winning ticket. Later in the day, my son started screaming, complaining of severe headache.
“After a while, he started behaving abnormally, saying they wanted to kill him. His condition later worsened as he could no longer talk. We took him to the hospital and he was admitted. Moments later, his friends showed up again.
“They revealed that he had been given a charm and that they had warned him not to stay without the charm. A pastor was invited to pray for him after we discovered the charm in his pocket.
“My sister insisted we keep him away from his friends by relocating him from the place since we were not sure where his problem was from. They still used diabolic means to trace him which worsened his condition.”
Achuku would be gruesomely murdered shortly after, and the family said he may have been lured from home through diabolical means on the day he was killed.
“I suspect both his friends and the NaijaBet agent for this ungodly act. My appeal to security agents is to investigate and unveil those responsible for the killing,” Aruma added.
Police spokesman in Nasarawa, Idrisu Kennedy, confirmed that some suspects have been arrested in connection with the killing and investigation was ongoing.
The sports betting phenomenon has been seen as a means to an end by millions of Nigerians in recent time.
