Osun man dies after fight over ₦8,000 masquerade festival proceeds

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A disagreement among three participants in a masquerade procession in Ilare, Osun State, has reportedly led to the death of one of them, identified simply as Bukunmi.

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Two eyewitnesses, who pleaded anonymity for security reasons, told PUNCH Online that Bukunmi, Femi and Pelumi took part in the masquerade procession in Ilare on Friday before later retiring to share money made during the festival.

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They said the dispute arose during the sharing of ₦8,000 realised from the procession.

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One of the eyewitnesses said: “At around 7:30pm Friday, boys in Ilare town were celebrating Egungun festival and they collected money from people during the celebrations. At the end of the procession on Friday, the three people that were together in their own group were to share a sum of N8000 that they made.

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“One Pelumi and Bukunmi, both members of the same family had misunderstanding, and Femi, intervened and prevailed on the two of them not to fight. Suddenly, Bukunmi attacked Femi, who was mediating. He hit him in the mouth and that angered the mediator, who allegedly stabbed Bukunmi with knife.

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“After the incident, people around rushed the injured Bukunmi to a hospital. Those at the scene of the crime, were on the verge on attacking Femi, but some operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, that responded early enough, rescued and handed him over to the police in Esa Oke Division.

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“News later filtered in that Bukunmi eventually died of the injury he sustained during the incident. The knife used to perpetrate the act, the corpse of the deceased and the suspect were all taken away by the police.”

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When contacted, the spokesperson of the Nigeria Police Force, Osun State Command, Abiodun Ojelabi, confirmed the incident to our correspondent on Saturday.

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“We are aware of the incident. The suspect is with the police.

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“The corpse has been deposited in the mortuary for autopsy. Investigation is on.

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“We have to follow the due process to unravel the circumstances surrounding the death,” he said.

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