A 38-year-old man was reportedly killed by gunmen and his body taken away in the Ipaja area of Alimosho, a Lagos suburb.
It was gathered that the deceased, Rotimi Adegoke had just left a political gathering on Saturday, March 27 when he was accosted by hoodlums and shot dead.
According to The Nation, sources said the deceased had gone to the meeting as soon as he returned from a trip to Abeokuta, Ogun State capital.
His killers were said to have waited until he died in a pool of his blood around the Moshalashi area in Alimosho before moving his body to an unknown location.
One of Adegoke’s friends, who asked not to be named, said the deceased’s death might not be unconnected with a supremacy battle between two political blocs in the local government area.
“He went to a political meeting at Mosun area of Alimosho when someone pointed him out as a mole for a faction involved in the supremacy battle. He was gunned down immediately and his body was also taken away by his killers.
“He was the breadwinner of his family and his wife is heavily pregnant as we speak,” he said.
It was learnt that some members of the faction to which the deceased belonged had been warned not to attend the meeting, but the deceased was unaware of the warning when he returned to Lagos to attend the meeting.
“There was security alert that there would be fracas at the meeting and we were warned to stay away from the gathering.
“Unfortunately, for Rotimi, he was away in Abeokuta, so he could not be reached on time. He missed the warning and went straight to the meeting on his return to Lagos the same day.
”At the meeting, he sat with members of other factions who later identified him as a loyalist of the leader of our faction, hence they attacked him shortly after he left the venue of the meeting.
”We gathered that he was attacked by two gunmen. One of them shot him but he did not die but the other gunman finally silenced him with several shots before they took his body away.”
It was said that the gunmen also killed one other unnamed person who attended the meeting near Gate Bus Stop.
However, sources said that one of the gunmen arrested by the police has since been freed.
“One of the killers was apprehended by men of the Area M Police Command, but the suspect has since been freed according to what we gathered,” a source said.
A source who spoke in confidence said: “He was not killed at the meeting. A water-tight security was provided by the police team at the venue of the meeting, so there was no way anyone could have opened fire on any of the attendees.
“However, the deceased was trailed to the Moshalashi area of Ipaja Road and killed by some persons who might have had issues with him. I think the police are already trying to unravel the circumstances surrounding his death and the identity of his killers.”
The bereaved family has asked the police to hasten investigation into his death and bring his killers to book.
Rotimi’s mother, Mrs Rachael Adegoke, said her son did not deserve the gruesome death.
She said: ”Rotimi became my first child after I lost his elder brother. I lost his father some 13 years ago. He left home for a political meeting only for some people to kill him in cold blood. Out of four children, I am now left with just two. Ah, this is too much!
”I don’t know what I have done to those who killed my son. I just don’t know what I have done to deserve the gruesome killing of my son. We want the authorities to fish out his killers and ensure justice in the matter.
One of his siblings said: “I don’t know what my brother did to deserve such gruesome death at the hands of his killers.
“As we speak, we don’t know where his body was taken to. Those who killed my brother took his body away. We are calling on the authorities to intervene and recover his body.
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