SEPTEMBER 1, 2012 BY COMFORT OSEGHALE 18 COMMENTS
One Sunday afternoon recently, Adeleye Akinsola, 26, was not in a hurry to leave his uncle’s home at Iwelepe community in Ogun State to resume work for the day as a commercial motorcycle operator.
So when his friend, Seun, showed up and requested a ride to his family compound at Awo, he obliged him.
Akinsola said, “I live with my mother’s younger brother and I have known Seun for sometime. He lives within my community. He approached me on Sunday and asked if I could take him to Awo to see his mother, I agreed. We went to Awo together. On our way back, we decided to pass through Papa Road, which was ridden with potholes. This was between 5 pm and 5.30 pm.”
While Akinsola was navigating the potholes, a car moved close to him. In fact, it came so close that he allegedly warned the driver of the vehicle not to hit him.
“The driver of the vehicle came so close to me that we were both in the same pot hole. I had to quickly caution him not to hit me because I was ready to fight him if he did. After I said this, the man apologised, flashed his full light at me, then waved and passed. I didn’t think much of the incident. It was simply one of those things one encountered as a rider,” he recalled.
But in what seems like a contradiction of Akinsola’s story, the Commissioner of Police in Ogun State, Mr. Okoye Ikemefuna, said that an attempted robbery attack was reported at the Sagamu Police Division on that particular evening.
Ikemefuna said, “On Aug. 5, 2012, at about 19.05 pm, a member of staff of the Nigerian Service Civil Defence Corps in Ogun State, Mr. Babalola Gbenga, reported that at about 5 pm, while he was coming from Babalento in his vehicle and heading to Sagamu, he met two men on a red Bajaj motorcycle with Registration No. FKJ 596 QA.
“Gbenga said both men had on a pair of dark sunglasses, rode their motorcycle close to him and threatened him with a gun to park his vehicle or be killed in the process. Gbenga said he pretended as if he was about to park and then quickly zoomed off.”
On getting to the Sagamu interchange, Gbenga was said to have alerted a police patrol team stationed there. A few minutes later, Akinsola and his companion had arrived at the interchange, unaware that the police had been tipped off.
“I noticed that by the time I had reached Ijemo that my fuel was in reserve. I increased my speed so I could get to toll gate and buy fuel to avoid being stranded. Before I could get to Nestle, I was asked to stop by some men at the Sagamu interchange. Since they wore plain clothes, I had no idea that they were policemen and so I refused to stop,” Akinsola said.
When Akinsola refused to stop, the policemen shot at him. Both men fell to the ground. Seun immediately jumped off and ran into the bush, while Akinsola was arrested and taken to the Sagamu Police Station. His motorcycle was seized.
“Seun was later found by a police search team, but he had sustained some injuries in the process of escaping and died later. Four live cartridges were recovered from his body and a purse full of charms. The gun was never found.”
“It was at the station that I learned Gbenga had reported to the police that we had tried to rob him. I had no idea Seun was into armed robbery. I never even saw him use a gun to threaten Gbenga because I have no side mirrors on my motorcycle. I was shocked when the police showed me the bullets they recovered from Seun; I had always known him as a labourer,” Akinsola said.
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