75Yrs Old Farmer, Livinus Arrested For Allegedly Killing His Cousin For Gossiping About Him

“ Later, I started my own farm. I cultivate yam, cassava, tomatoes and pepper.  I also help other farmers for a fee. We collect as much N50,000 to clear at least five  plots of land.

“Emmanuel was my paternal  relative.  We grew up together in Oloru village.Our relationship was smooth until a few months back  when  I started hearing rumors that I was not  clearing my client’s farmland properly .  Normally when one  gets a  contract to clear a field or weed, the owner  pays an advance fee. I later realized that   my contractors started  insisting  that I finish the entire work before I get paid.

 ” Even  when I argued that it was not possible because I needed to feed and pay for transport, they insisted. I later found out that it was Emmanuel that was busy spreading falsehood against me.

“I confronted him and even reported him to our elders. I thought he would stop but he didn’t.

“When   I got another job, the owner reluctantly paid  me  N10,000 advance for a job  that would  take up to a week to finish.

“I went ahead to  clear the farmland. But when  I called the owner who is based in Abuja for my balance, he told me he won’t  pay me the balance  until he comes in person to inspect the work. When I demanded to know why, he said  Emmanuel had warned him about me.

“I was so angry .I rushed home, met   Emmanuel and  confronted him. Instead of apologising,  he started laughing. I told him to go and retract his statement about me if he wanted peace. He continued laughing, saying he would not.

I lost my cool because that was the only means of survival for me. We started fighting. I beat him up thoroughly. People around later separated us but by then he was panting. I ran away when I noticed that he was lying on the grass and still breathing like someone about to die.