Josiah Godwin, a twenty-four-year-old, apprentice is currently cooling his feet in police custody after he allegedly killed his master in the Imafon community in Ondo state. 

Mr Godwin, who was arrested by detectives on Thursday, was alleged to have murdered Savior Joseph, who specialises in fixing POP/asbestos, and dumped his corpse inside a deep well. 

An elder brother of the late Mr Joseph, who simply identified himself as, Ogar Julius, told journalists in Akure, the Ondo State capital, that Mr Joseph was killed while working at a site in the community. 

Mr Julius said the deceased had earlier been declared missing by family members since last week Wednesday.

“We spoke on Tuesday morning and by Wednesday I noticed his phone line was no longer connecting. I even thought he had a flat battery. I was worried.

“I began to ask people around him if they know his whereabouts till on Saturday the youngest of all of us called that he hasn’t been seen despite the search too,” Mr Julius narrated. 

He added that Mr Joseph’s apprentice (Godwin) was later contacted to inquire about the whereabouts of his boss but he said he left him at the site. 

“We got in touch with the boy and asked the whereabouts of his master from him. He began to narrate how his boss woke him up at night; collected his phone, smatch it on the floor, beat him, and before asking him to return to sleep.

“As a result of that, he told us he decided to leave the site the next day. We couldn’t buy into his story and we immediately suspected him and started wondering how an apprentice would wake up and not see his boss in the morning.”

According to Mr Julius, the mobile phone of the apprentice was checked to confirm if it was smashed on the floor by the deceased. 

“Surprisingly, no single scratch was found on his phone.” 

He added “Aside from that, we asked why he’d switched off his phone and would not report what happened between him and his boss to anybody. Later, we reported him to the police and he was arrested.” 

Confirming the arrest to Peoples Gazette, the police spokeswoman in Ondo, Funmilayo Odunlami-Omisanya, said the suspect was already helping the police with investigation over the crime.

“Yes, the suspect is in our custody and we have been able to establish that he killed his boss and threw his corpse inside the well,” Mrs Odunlami-Omisanya added, “So, after further investigation, he would be charged to court.” 

The Gazette, however, learned that the corpse of Mr Joseph has been exhumed from the well and deposited at the morgue.