A
final year student of Lagos State Polytechnic, Ibrahim Oluwaseun, 26,
has been killed by suspected cult members at his parents’ home in Somolu
area of Lagos. The deceased, a student of Business Administration, was
said to have been preparing to defend his final year project this week
when he was killed on Friday night.
Our correspondent also gathered that the
deceased was sitting with his mother outside their home on New Balogun
street, when he was shot around 9pm.
An eyewitness, who pleaded anonymity, said the gunmen were about seven.
He said, “They were seven in number;
they came to the area fully armed. All those guys were strangers to us
but have been coming to the area for some time now. Nobody knew exactly
what they were up to.
“That night, they confronted the boys in the area with guns and immediately people saw them, they ran for their lives.
“They shot at Oluwaseun who was with his
mum outside their house. It wasn’t as if Oluwaseun was involved in any
fight. He fell into the gutter immediately he was shot, just as
everybody tried running for cover.”
PunchNg gathered that in the
ensuing confusion, neither of Oluwaseun’s neighbours nor relatives,
witnessed his fall into the gutter. It wasn’t until after the confusion
had subsided that residents allegedly observed that Oluwaseun was
nowhere to be found.
Another source told us
that the Divisional Police Officer, Somolu Station, responding to a
distress call on the shooting, drafted some patrol teams to the area.
He said, “Two patrol vehicles were sent
to the area but even while the police patrolled the streets, no one
noticed that Oluwaseun was in the gutter. Perhaps he might have survived
the shooting if he had been discovered on time.”
Oluwaseun was said to have been
discovered, few minutes after the shooting; by then, he was already
dead. His corpse was said to have been recovered from the gutter by the
police and taken to the Gbagada General Hospital, where he was confirmed
dead.
When our correspondent visited the scene
a day after the incident, there was an uneasy calm on the street; shops
were under lock and key.
While a candlelight procession was held
in the deceased’s honour on Saturday, there were fears among residents
of more attacks. At the Oluwaseuns’ residence, visitors poured in to
condole with the deceased’s family and pay tribute to his memory. His
distraught mother was said to be unavailable for comments.
However, a close friend of the family, Alhaja Modupeola Kazeem, described Oluwaseun as gentle and an easygoing young man.
Kazeem said, “I was shocked on hearing
the news because I am like a second mother to him. I was one of the
people who brought him up; he was a cheerful person who never made
trouble. We were all surprised how those guys just came and shot at him
without any provocation. Ibrahim was just a victim; he was never part of
any bad group.”
She added that Oluwaseun had been buried on Saturday in accordance with Muslim rites.
The Deputy Police Public Relations
Officer, Damasus Ozoani, confirmed the incident to our reporter on the
telephone. He said, “There was indeed an incident on Friday night in
which some suspected cultists shot one Oluwaseun in Somolu. Police
immediately swung into action. They saw him lying down and he was rushed
to the hospital where he died. We are investigating the case to ensure
we bring the culprits to book.”
No comments:
Post a Comment