ASUU Strike: Undergraduate Shot Dead By Bandits

Posted: August 27, 2013

By SaharaReporters, New York

Folajomi Agunbiade, a 24-year old undergraduate student at Ondo State University, Akungba-Akoko, was shot dead on Thursday, August 22 by armed robbers who were infuriated that she began to pray in tongues as they robbed her family.
Around 9 p.m., two armed robbers stormed the Agunbiade residence located in the Alasia-Amosun area of Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State.
A family source said the armed bandits, who reeked of alcohol, took away six cell phones that were being charged at the time. The source added that neighbors were unaware of the robbers’ attack because the family’s noisy power generator was running at the time.

The source told SaharaReporters that one of the robbers demanded cash from the student’s grandmother, but the other robber asked him to leave the woman alone as they had earlier collected about N20,000 from her.
A police source stated that the robbers ransacked the house and stole cash as well as such valuables as mobile phones. At one point, said the source, one of the robbers threatened to shoot Folajomi’s elder sister.
All through the assault, Ms. Folajomi Agunbiade was praying and speaking in tongues. This reportedly angered one of the robbers who aimed the gun at her and shot. A source said she cried “Jesus!” before she fell and died.
A family source disclosed that the robbery ironically took place on the day the deceased’s elder sister ended a three-day fast to ward off any untimely death based on a revelation she had been given.
SaharaReporters learnt that the two sisters were living with their grandmother and a care giver. Ms. Folajomi was at home due to the on-going strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). The strike has kept students at home for close to two months.
The family reportedly called the police at 9.45 p.m., after the armed robbers left. A police source said officers were immediately sent to the assaulted home after the distress call was received.
After the robbery, the two-man gang locked their victims inside the house and went away with the key. Neighbors were alerted by the cries of the occupants.
One source said the armed robbers even walked past some of the residents of the area who even greeted them without knowing they were armed robbers.
According to the source, “The sister of the deceased said that the two armed robbers came with locally made guns. She said they started banging their fists on the door and, when the door was opened, they saw that the intruders were armed robbers.”
The source disclosed that the mother of the two sisters lives abroad while their father is based in Ondo State.