Nigerian student nabbed for allegedly killing drinking buddy in Cebu City

A 21-year-old Nigerian student was arrested by police after he allegedly killed his drinking buddy in Barangay Talamban, Cebu City on Saturday evening, October 28, 2023. | Paul Lauro

CEBU CITY, Philippines – A 21-year-old Nigerian student was arrested after he allegedly caused a fire and killed his drinking buddy in Barangay Talamban, Cebu City on Saturday evening, October 28, 2023.

The incident reportedly transpired at around 9:00 p.m. inside a rented room in Sitio Cadahuan in Talamban.

The police report revealed that the suspect was having a drinking session with the victim, a 26-year-old man, inside the latter’s rented room when the incident happened.

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The victim reportedly works as a call center agent and is a native of Misamis Occidental.

According to the report, a witness who is also the caretaker, heard a man’s voice asking for help at around 12:30 a.m.

Because of this, he went out to search where the voice is coming from, which resulted to him noticing the victim’s room on fire.

The caretaker then began asking for help from other neighbors and allegedly saw the suspect running away from the area.

The caretaker, Ronie Villa, told CDN Digital in an interview that he heard someone saying “Tabang [ku]ya” in the middle of the night.

He said that he waited for someone to come out of the room and saw the student frantically running away.

Villa added that they panicked after seeing the smoke coming out of the room.

Personnel from the Talamban Police Station,  Bureau of Fire Protection, and Barangay Talamban’s Barangay Public Safety Officers (BPSO) responded to the scene, stated the report.

It also said that responding officers saw the lifeless victim inside the room while the bed was partially burned.

Police then arrested the suspect and recovered from his possession an 11-inch long kitchen knife and the handle that was believed to have been used in the murder.

Scene of the crime operatives also arrived to assess the crime scene, according to the report.

The victim was declared dead on the spot by Emergency Medical Services (EMS) after assessing that he had no pulse and was not breathing.

The victim’s cadaver was brought to the Cebu Rolling Hills Funeral Homes to be subjected to post-mortem examination.

Charges of murder and arson will likely be filed against the suspect.

/bmjo