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.”
