How reckless driving exposed tenant that killed landlord, stole his car

Officers of the Lagos State Police Command arrested a man during a stop-and-search duty on Sunday, and it turned out the suspect was on his way to sell the car he was driving—the car he stole after strangling the owner—his landlord in the Ikotun area of Lagos.

The landlord, Willy Ebinate, just cleared the Camry from the Apapa wharf, and was washing it in his compound when the tenant, Daniel Isaac, attacked, killed him, and dumped him in a septic tank.

Isaac then zoomed off in the car with a friend, Emmanuel Chukwu.

Problem began when Ebinate, 50, was unreachable on his phone, making family and friend worry about his whereabouts.

When they got to his house Wednesday, there was nothing except another tenant’s confirmation that Ebinate was seen was washing his car Monday morning.

“On Thursday, we went to the Isheri-Osun Police Station to report a case of missing person; but around midnight on Friday, I got a call from Ebinate’s cousin that he was dead,” a colleague of his told the Punch.

“We informed the police at the Isheri-Osun Police Station and went to his house to confirm what had happened; we met the Divisional Police Officer of the Iba Police Division and her officers at Ebinate’s house. The DPO explained that Isaac was arrested while trying to sell his landlord’s car.

“She said Isaac confessed during interrogation that he had been planning to steal one of Ebinate’s cars. So, when  the victim brought the Toyota Camry home, Isaac waited for all the tenants to leave the house and strangled Ebinate while he was washing the car,” the DPO added.

Homicide detectives from the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Yaba, are investigating the case, according Bala Elkana, PPRO.

The suspects will be charged to court later.