36-yr-old Okada Rider Shot Dead In Akure, Residents Kick

VOICE AIR MEDIA News Update

A 36-year-old commercial motorcyclist, identified as Ibrahim Adamu, has been shot dead by a security guard in the early hours of Sunday at Alagbaka, in Akure metropolis, the Ondo State capital.

The Hope Metro gathered that the deceased was sent to his early grave around 1:30am, when he was fell by the bullet of the guard attached to the entrance gate of a street where a popular hotel is located in the Government Reserved Area.

The sad event which occurred opposite the gate of Christ the King Catholic Church, attracted worshippers and sympathisers in the area, who besieged the scene.

An eyewitness, who was a friend to the deceased, said that the security men stopped Adamu and asked him where he was coming from.

He said the deceased told them that he was coming from a friend’s house, and during the interrogation, other security men attached to different residences came out to identify him.

“Suddenly, one of the security men was reported to have shot into the air which scared the people and they fled.

“But the deceased and I, were still staying there, when one of the security men shot him in the chest and he died instantly,“ he explained.

Also, one of the mourners and neighbours, Mrs Safira Saliu narrated angrily that, “The deceased came to our house to eat, after he closed from his work for the day, around 11pm. He was an okada man. And later, he went out to sleep in his friend’s place because my family uses one room.

“My husband who went with him came back around 1:30am to inform me that the deceased, (Ibrahim) has been shot dead.

“The culprits took to their heels after the incident and the kinsmen of the deceased have destroyed the chairman’s house because the culprit went to his house to inform him that they have killed somebody before they ran away, but the man did not do anything.

“For some hours, the corpse of the deceased was laid on the ground where he was shot and his people did not allow any policeman or anybody to intervene while they demanded for the arrest of the culprits.”

Neighbours who spoke in separate interviews with Journalist described Ibrahim as a very hardworking man and helpful to many people.

Though journalist who was at the scene of the incident gathered that the deceased was a commercial motorcyclist, a contrary report claimed he was a security guard.

Meanwhile, the Ondo State Police Command has confirmed the death of Adamu.

The police said he was a security guard who was shot dead by a yet-to-be identified security guard at Alagbaka in Akure, Akure South local government area of Ondo State.

Speaking with The Hope Metro, SP Funmilayo Odunlami-Omisanya, the Police Public Relations Officer, who confirmed the death of the man, said, ”the situation surrounding the death of the security guard was still sketchy, adding that investigations are ongoing.

“It happened in the early hours of today(Sunday). We have not really pointed out the reason for the death of the security guard.

“Our men are still on the case trying to ensure peace and stability is restored to the area.

“We will get back to the general public as soon as we conclude our investigations and unravel the mystery behind the guard’s death.

It was gathered that the deceased’s corpse has been deposited at the State Specialist Hospital Mortuary.

There are indications that the remains of the deceased would have been buried according to Islamic rites.

According to reports, the Hausa security guards in the area moved in large numbers to the house of the Coordinator of the Vigilante Security group to seek his attention over the gruesome murder of their colleague.

It took the intervention of Ondo State Government before his kinsmen allowed the remains of the deceased to be evacuated from the scene.

Personnel from the state government appealed to the security guards, assuring them that the actual cause of his death would be revealed and that the culprits will be arrested and made to face the full wrath of the law.