The personal assistant of Fahim Saleh, the founder, and CEO of Nigeria’s motorcycle ride-hailing platform, Gokada has reportedly been arrested for his brutal and horrific murder, the New York Times reports.
The dismembered body of Saleh was discovered by his sister who went to check on him in his $2.25 million home because he was incommunicado for about a day.
Now, according to the New York Times, Tyrese Devon Haspil, 21, has been arrested in his murder, and he is expected to be charged with second-degree murder and other crimes.
The motive for killing Saleh
New York Times says the motive for the killing was as a result of Saleh discovering that Devon had stolen ‘tens of thousands of dollars from’. In his magnanimity, Saleh reportedly set up ‘a repayment plan for him to return the money”.
Apparently, Devon who probably did not have any intention of repaying him decided to murder Saleh albeit brutally.
Quoting an official familiar with the case, New York Times says: “Investigators have also concluded that Mr. Saleh was killed on Monday, the day before his body was found and that the killer used his employer’s credit card to pay for a car to a Home Depot, on West 23rd Street in Manhattan, to buy cleaning supplies to sanitize the crime scene, the official said. The killer returned to Mr. Saleh’s apartment the next day to dismember the body and clean up the crime scene.”
The Murder
The killer was reported to have followed Fahim Saleh as he entered the elevator to his apartment. The killer was dressed in a black three-piece suit, wearing a black mask and carrying a duffel bag. He used a Taser to weaken Saleh and then stabbed him to death.
The killer was said to have returned to Saleh’s apartment with a battery-operated portable vacuum cleaner in an effort to remove any traces of his visit and perhaps the murder.
However, his clean up plans were disrupted by Saleh’s sister who called on him and this prompted him to escape through the apartment’s back door.
Fahim Saleh founded Gokada, the on-demand motorcycle startup in 2018. He wanted to re-enact what he did with Pathao in Bangladesh. Regardless, this grand plan was abruptly shelved after the Lagos state government slammed a ban on motorcycles.
To cushion the impact of the ban, Gokada pivoted into logistics and delivery.
