An officer with the Nigerian Correctional Service, Adebayo Pelumi, has reportedly committed suicide inside a hotel room in Lokoja, Kogi state.
Pelumi, the prime suspect in the murder and dismemberment of Kogi-based photojournalist Aiyepeku Ayo, had been declared wanted after the brutal killing on Tuesday, July 22, 2025, at their residence in the Government Reserved Area (GRA) of Lokoja.
The Blaze Newspaper gathered that the suspect was found dead Thursday morning in a hotel room.
According to one of the staff members of the hotel, who pleaded for anonymity, Adebayo Pelumi lodged in their hotel on Wednesday afternoon and was found dead on Thursday, around 1 pm, when one of the stewards of the hotel went to clean up the room at check-out time.
The hotel management alerted the police, who confirmed his identity and deposited his corpse at the Federal Teaching Hospital, Lokoja.
Ayo Aiyepekun’s murder:
It was learnt that a photojournalist Ayo Aiyepekun, working with Inside Story in Lokoja, was on Tuesday murdered allegedly by his neighbour, Adebayo Pelumi, who resides in the same compound.
According to sources, Mr Adebayo was in the office with the victim, doing some video and photo editing, when the suspect called the victim to help him out at his poultry farm, which is located inside the same compound.
The source stated that it was around 8:30 pm when the suspect called him, but he was unaware that Ayo was not the only person in the office. The moment Ayo got out to meet Adebayo, he was hit with an iron repeatedly and killed there.
The source further revealed that he saw the suspect lifting the body into a deep freezer before moving the body into his Hilux Van, prompting him to raise alarm.
When he returned later, security operatives had arrived and attempted to apprehend him. Though they shot his tyres, he escaped into the bush.
On Thursday around 1pm, police acting on intelligence located his lifeless body inside a hotel room, with a bottle of Coca-Cola and a container of Sniper insecticide beside him.
