The atmosphere at Fagbohun Compound,
Ishaga Orile in Abeokuta North Local Government Area of Ogun State was
grim when our correspondent visited on Monday.
All
was quiet, not even a whimper was heard in the house as sympathisers
sat quietly around 60-year-old Rahmon Fagbohun and his wife, Rohimat.
Their
son, Ibrahim, was allegedly shot dead at Pleasure Bus Stop on
Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway, Lagos, by a police inspector attached to the
Elere Police Division.
The policeman, Ibrahim Abdullahi, who is
currently in the custody of the State Criminal Investigation Department,
Yaba, Lagos, shot Ibrahim directly in the forehead with his service
rifle around 8.30pm last Thursday.
Even without any wailing and cries of agony, the atmosphere captured the grief of the Fagbohun family.
Getting to the compound was easy in the small community, as all the residents already knew where a tragedy had occurred.
Rahmon
explained that when he first heard about the death of his son, all he
was told by a stranger who called him was that his son had an accident;
so, he should prepare to come to Lagos.
He said, “The person did
not tell me which hospital he was taken to. Since I already knew his
house in Lagos, I simply dressed up that night and looked for a
motorcyclist who took me to Abeokuta, in order to get a bus to Lagos.
“There
were no buses going to Lagos anymore that night, so I had to come back
home. But we were not at peace because we had no information as to how
he was doing or how badly he was injured in the accident. But I did not
know that it was a lie, that he had been shot dead.”
According to
Rahmon, he got a call from Ibrahim’s younger brother the following day.
Alas! The cat was let out of the bag - Ibrahim had been shot dead. His
mother fainted upon hearing the news.
When Rohimat was revived, she rose with a scream.
The
bereaved woman, our correspondent was told, had been screaming and
calling for her son since the day she heard the news. She was simply too
tired to even sob by the time our correspondent visited.
“Ibrahim
had been living in Lagos for more than 10 years. He was never a bad
boy. I told him he must never be an area boy when he went to Lagos. He
listened to me and became a tyre repairer instead.
“All through
the time he was there, I never heard anything bad about him. He always
ensured he sent me money regularly, no matter how small it was. He came
home recently and bought me this phone. He said he could not be working
in Lagos, while I did not have a phone.
“On Thursday, he called
me on the phone and said he would be coming home to visit us on Friday
(the day after he was shot dead). I did not know I was speaking with my
son for the last time. May God judge that policeman. He will die in
prison by God’s grace.”
Rahmon said the police should release the
body of his son as soon as possible. He said the fact that it was still
being held was adding to the sorrow of the family.
He lamented that the Lagos State Police Command had not called to sympathise with him.
In tears, he regretted that his son had been killed like a nobody.
While
he spoke, Rohimat, who was obviously seething with anger interjected
with her voice that had gone hoarse with wailing. She said that nothing
would ever be done to compensate for the many things Ibrahim had
promised he would do for her.
It is obvious this family, whose main stay is farming, has lost a helper in their slain son.
However,
our correspondent learnt that contrary to reports that Ibrahim had
withheld the tyres of an individual, who enlisted the help of the
policeman that shot the tyre repairer, Saturday PUNCH learnt that the
deceased was not involved in any issue with anybody.
When
Saturday PUNCH visited the scene of the alleged murder on Tuesday,
Ibrahim’s friends said the deceased was a mere bystander who was shot by
a trigger-happy policeman.
Sati, who is the chairman of the
conductors’ association at the bus stop, was an eyewitness and a
participant in the misunderstanding that led to Ibrahim’s death.
He told Saturday PUNCH at Pleasure Bus Stop that members of his group were accused of stealing some tyres at the bus stop.
“We
were all arguing and I know my members well that they would do no such
thing. The argument went on and that was when I saw the patrol van of
the Elere Police Division passing by.
“We called the policemen to
take us all to the station to sort out the issue because we were being
accused wrongly. The policeman who shot Ibrahim at first did not
intervene. His action there suggested that he was the one leading the
patrol at the time.
“He stood apart, looking at us while his men
sorted out the issue. The argument went on and I remembered Ibrahim was
standing by, just looking at the scene. Suddenly the policeman raised
his rifle and fired some shots.”
Sati said he had no idea what had happened as many people fled.
He explained that by the time the confusion settled, he saw Ibrahim on the ground, bleeding heavily from his forehead.
The policemen fled immediately but later returned for the body.
Saturday
PUNCH learnt that a mob marched to Elere Police Division in protest, an
action which forced the police to arrest the killer policeman and hand
him over to the SCID.
The Commissioner of Police, Lagos State
Command, Mr. Umar Manko, has described the incident as ‘death by
accidental discharge’ but promised that Abdullahi would be prosecuted.
Ibrahim’s
uncle, Mr. Odegbami Suraju, told Saturday PUNCH that the family was
awaiting the post-mortem examination to be conducted on the body.
“The
police paid the post-mortem and mortuary bills. The police authorities
said there would be a meeting on Tuesday and they would communicate to
us the outcome of the meeting. So, we await whatever decision would be
taken on the case,” he said.
Police Public Relations Officer in
the state, Ngozi Braide, said the process that would culminate in the
orderly room trial of the policeman had begun.
“The process is ongoing. We’ll make the outcome of the orderly room trial known after it is completed,” she told Saturday PUNCH
Source: Punch
The nine were arrested by the police yesterday after initially escaping during a raid of the ‘baby factory’.
