A tragic event has shocked the residents of New Balogun street in
Somolu, Lagos State as a young man resident on the street was shot dead
by suspected cultists.
Ibrahim Oluwaseun, 26, a final year student of Lagos State
Polytechnic was gunned down by the yet unidentified assailants at his
parents home in Somolu.
According to reports, Ibrahim was with his mother outside their home
at about 9pm when about 7 gunmen invaded the area and shot him.
Nigerian Eye reports:
An eyewitness, who pleaded anonymity, 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.”
PUNCH Metro 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 PUNCH Metro 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.
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.
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.”
