The Nigeria Union, South Africa (NUSA) on Wednesday announced the murder of another Nigerian.
The union’s President, Adetola Olubajo, said that the victim, 46-year-old Obinna Stanley Ayanele, hailed from Uruala, Ideato North Local Government Area of Imo State.
He said Ayanele was murdered in cold blood by some criminals in his shop in Krugersdorp, Johannesburg, on Tuesday evening.
The criminals had reportedly attacked Ayanele with the intention of robbing him of his money and wares.
“With deep sorrow in our hearts, the Nigeria Union South Africa regrets to announce the gruesome murder of another Nigerian, the late Stanley Ayanele from Uruala, Ideato North LGA, Imo, aged 46.
“Until his death, he was a small-scale business owner, a stockist of petty goods.
“Ayanele was accosted by some criminals at his shop in Krugersdorp, Johannesburg in the evening of August 20, 2019 with the intention of robbing him of his money and wares.
“In the process, he was murdered in cold blood,’’ Olubajo said in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
He said that according to a witness, three unknown men held him at gunpoint and robbed him of his valuables, including cash.
“He was brutally stabbed severally, and they smashed his head with a hammer thereby leaving him in a pool of his blood to bleed to death,’’ Olubajo quoted the witness as saying.
He added that the murderers were on the verge of carting away the late Obinna’s wares in the shop when community members contacted the South Africa Police Service (SAPS), Krugersdorp Cluster Station.
Olubajo said the SAPS crime team later arrested two of the criminals while the third one escaped. He said a manhunt was immediately constituted.
He noted that the murder weapons were confiscated by the police and the remains of the deceased deposited at a government mortuary.
The union’s president said that a case of murder was immediately opened by the Nigeria Union Ward at the police station and the suspects were charged to court on Wednesday (yesterday).