Robbers terrorise community, kill 19-year-old admission seeker

Armed robbers have attacked Ondo and Odaliki streets in the Ebute-Meta area of Lagos State, killing a 19-year-old admission seeker, identified only as Olaniyi. PUNCH Metro learnt that the robbers attacked the area at about 1am on Sunday, dispossessing residents of money and phones. Olaniyi, who hailed from Ilorin, Kwara State, and stayed with a friend on Ondo Street, was said to have been shot on the chest. Our correspondent learnt that the robbers attacked two other places ─ Ibadan and Thomas streets ─ before they left the area around 2am. Policemen from the Iponri division who later arrived at the scene were said to have recovered Olaniyi’s corpse, while no member of the gang was arrested. When our correspondent visited the area on Tuesday, Olaniyi’s mother, who sold foodstuffs at a shop around Odaliki Junction, was said to have been taken to Ilorin after the incident. A septuagenarian in Olaniyi’s apartment, who did not want his name in print for security reason, said the occupants of the house had fled the area, remaining only him and a few kids. The man added that Olaniyi was the only child of his mother, who had also lost her husband. He said, “It was at about 1.30am on Sunday. My son was at home because of the Yuletide. He uses a wheelchair and he was awake till that time. “The robbers scaled the fence and jumped into our compound. They got hold of a boy on the ground floor and asked him to lead them up. They saw my son and collected his phones. The three men who came to the first floor were armed with guns. “They headed for the room Olaniyi stayed. His friend, whom he stayed with, was not at home. When the robbers entered the room, they told him to lie down. Seconds later, I heard a gunshot. “After a few minutes, they left our place for other houses. My son used another phone to call the police. But we did not see the policemen until 6am. “After the robbery, some occupants fled the house. They were shocked to realise that Olaniyi was dead. He is the only child of his mother. He was seeking admission to a university.” Another resident, who identified herself as Mama Oyin, said Olaniyi’s mother had alerted the tenants to her son’s killing at about 6am, adding that the robbers also struck in the area on Monday. She said, “Olaniyi’s mother sells rice around Odaliki Junction. She had come to the house to call her son for the day’s cooking when she realised he had been killed by the robbers. She raised the alarm and the community was thrown into mourning. “If the policemen had come on time, they would have arrested the robbers. The police patrolled our area on Sunday evening, but on Monday the robbers struck again.” A security official told PUNCH Metro that there were many faulty vehicles parked by the roadside in the area which the hoodlums used as hideouts. He said, “We have a lot of parked vehicles in this area and these boys sleep inside them at night. The vehicles are used as hideouts.” The Lagos State Deputy Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Aliyu Giwa, confirmed the robbery. He added that the teenager died because the victims did not alert the police on time to the incident. He said, “The occupants did not call the police till around 7am. It was the deceased’s mother who discovered he was dead. “When the police got the report, operatives from Iponri went to the place. The people wanted to lynch the boy who took the robbers round the house, but the police prevented that from happening. The case is still under investigation.” SOURCE: PUNCH