SEPTEMBER 7, 2013
Akinola
Fifty-eight-year-old Rilwanulahi Akinola last Tuesday became the latest casualty of the terror that grips some communities close to the border between Lagos and Ogun states.
Akinola was shot dead by suspected armed robbers, who visited his house on Apostolic Faith Street, Isokan in Ojokoro Local Council Development Area of Lagos around 1am.
His last child, a junior secondary school two pupil, Aisha, 12, still couldn’t believe that her father was gone forever. Aisha kept asking her sisters if her “daddy” was ever coming back home.
Akinola was buried in his house, a few metres from where he was found dead.
Akinola’s eldest child, Adejoke, who finished her youth service programme in 2012, tried to reassure her sister that things would be fine, even though, their father was gone. “Daddy is gone but everything will be alright,” Adejoke told her sister.
Adejoke later told Saturday PUNCH that she had to be strong for her siblings and her mother, Abibat, in spite of her pains. She also explained that she was fighting to keep her emotions in check for the sake of her family, but expressed regret that she was losing the war.
She said, “I try to console my sisters. We have accepted our fate, even though, it’s a bad fate. We’re praying for God’s strength for us to achieve our goals and make him (Akinola) proud. But it’s not been easy; if I told you that I’ve not cried today, I would be lying. I’m trying to be strong but it’s hard.”
In addition, Adejoke said she had removed Akinola’s pictures from the walls to make the loss more bearable for the family as the pictures were painful reminders of the deed that had been done.
She said, “I removed all the pictures and kept them somewhere, particularly because of my mother. Every time she looked at the pictures, she remembered everything and would start crying all over again.”
Adejoke was the first member of the family to discover Akinola’s dead body, lying on the ground, just outside their compound.
“He was shot in the forehead and in the chest when I found him,” she said.
According to the family, on the evening preceding the attack, Akinola had gone to bed by 9pm, after having a nice tune with his family.
Adejoke said, “Then at about 1.15 am, the robbers came and started banging on the door. They asked us to open the door or pay dearly, but none of us did. My mum locked us (children) in her room because she was so afraid for us since we are all ladies and she didn’t want anything bad to happen to us. Only my mum and dad remained in the sitting room.
“Eventually, the robbers, who were eight in number, and armed with guns and other weapons, opened the door from outside. They asked for money, phones and jewellery. My mother was gathering everything to give to them. She came for our phones and begged them not to harm us because she was really afraid that they might want to rape us.”
Adejoke said, “We didn’t know when the armed robbers left because we were asked to remain in the room. But we thought that our dad was also in another room and we didn’t hear any gunshots. So when the police told us that they saw a body outside, we never thought that the person could be our father.
“When I went out and moved closer to the body, I realised that it was my father. I was extremely mad.”
Akinola was taken to Ahmadiyya Hospital, Ojokoro, where he was confirmed dead.
Adejoke recalled that Akinola insisted that all his five children should be educated since he didn’t have the opportunity of going beyond primary school.
She said, “Each time he saw a prominent person on TV, he would tell us to study hard to become important persons who would add value to the society. Our dad was the breadwinner, although, our mum is very industrious and also supportive. So his loss will have a negative effect on the education of my siblings. But we will pull through with God, although, it’s not going to be easy.”
Investigation showed that armed robbers had been to the area four times in the last two weeks, including once after Akinola’s death. Aside from Apostolic Faith Street, other affected streets were Aderupoko, Mustapha Hassan, Akobi and Uba.
Folorunsho Agboluaye, the general overseer of a church on Aremu Lawal Street, said the residents had received information that their street would be the next point of call for the armed robbers.
But theirs is not the only case; residents of Agbado Crossing area in Ifo Local Government Area of Ogun State, said armed robbers had visited almost every street in the area, in the last three months.
A resident, John Uzuka, said, “And when they (robbers) come to streets, they move from house to house.”
It was learnt that on one occasion, the robbers were on their seventh house on a street before they were interrupted by a police siren.
Three weeks ago, armed robbers numbering 20 visited Uzuka’s residence on Sabina Mustapha Street.
Uzuka, 57, said he was lucky that his family members survived the ordeal. His neighbours were not as fortunate.
Opposite Uzuka’s house, a mechanic identified as Mr. Okanlawon was shot dead by the robbers, while another resident of the building, one Mr. Musa, was said to have sustained heavy machete cut on his head.
Musa, Okanlawon’s wife and three children have since vacated the area, according to residents.
“Since the incident, Mr. Okanlawon’s family has moved out and we have not seen Mr. Musa, either,” said a resident of the building, who did not want his name published.
At Agbado Crossing, many other residents have also left their homes for safer neighbourhoods.
A resident of Ten kobo Street, whose child was almost killed, said residents now live in fear.
She said that her 14-year-old child was still recovering from the injuries sustained during the armed robbers’ last visit to her place.
She said, “When they (robbers) came to our house, one of them tried to hit my son’s head with a sledge hammer but he quickly put his hand and that reduced the impact. His middle finger was dislocated and he suffered other injuries.
The traditional ruler of Ishaga land (Agbado), which covers a large part of Agbado Crossing, Baale Mukaila Owodeyi, said armed robbers had been terrorising the area on a daily basis.
He said, “We don’t sleep and I’m not left out because nobody is safe. These people don’t have any respect for the throne; they are ready to rob and attack anybody. Once it’s getting dark, everyone is afraid to close their eyes.”
Owodeyi said the nearest police station to the communities was Agbado Division, which he considered to be too far to his people.
He said, “We have about 30 villages here, including Oke Aro, Giwa, Ope-Ilu, Oluwo, Matogun, Adiyan and others. Yet, only one police station is in the area. The police are trying but we need more police posts around.”
The public relations officer of the Joint Estate Zone, Isokan West Community Development Association, also said he was worried about the state of security in his area.
He said residents burn fire every night, to light up the neighbourhood and ward off the robbers.
He, however, called on the police to concentrate more on the area.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Ogun State Command, Muyiwa Adejobi, said that work was ongoing to have additional posts at Agbado area.
He said, “We are aware of the situation; we know that Agbado is big and needs additional police headquarters. The Police Commissioner has written to the Inspector General of Police and once we get the approval, we will go ahead.
Adejobi also urged residents of Agbado Crossing to call the Divisional Police Officer, Agbado and the Area Commander of Otta Police Command directly on 08126369258 and 08032145961, respectively.
However, Adejobi’s Lagos counterpart, Ngozi Braide, asked our correspondent to call back. But repeated calls and SMS to her mobile phone later were not answered.
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