The atmosphere at Fagbohun Compound, Ishaga Orile in Abeokuta North Local Government Area of Ogun State was grim when our correspondent visited on Monday.
All was quiet, not even a whimper was heard in the house as sympathisers sat quietly around 60-year-old Rahmon Fagbohun and his wife, Rohimat. Their son, Ibrahim, was allegedly shot dead at Pleasure Bus Stop on Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway, Lagos, by a police inspector attached to the Elere Police Division. The policeman, Ibrahim Abdullahi, who is currently in the custody of the State Criminal Investigation Department, Yaba, Lagos, shot Ibrahim directly in the forehead with his service rifle around 8.30pm last Thursday.
Even without any wailing and cries of agony, the atmosphere captured the grief of the Fagbohun family.
Getting to the compound was easy in the small community, as all the residents already knew where a tragedy had occurred.
Rahmon explained that when he first heard about the death of his son, all he was told by a stranger who called him was that his son had an accident; so, he should prepare to come to Lagos.
He said, “The person did not tell me which hospital he was taken to. Since I already knew his house in Lagos, I simply dressed up that night and looked for a motorcyclist who took me to Abeokuta, in order to get a bus to Lagos.
“There were no buses going to Lagos anymore that night, so I had to come back home. But we were not at peace because we had no information as to how he was doing or how badly he was injured in the accident. But I did not know that it was a lie, that he had been shot dead.”
According to Rahmon, he got a call from Ibrahim’s younger brother the following day. Alas! The cat was let out of the bag - Ibrahim had been shot dead. His mother fainted upon hearing the news.
When Rohimat was revived, she rose with a scream.
The bereaved woman, our correspondent was told, had been screaming and calling for her son since the day she heard the news. She was simply too tired to even sob by the time our correspondent visited.
“Ibrahim had been living in Lagos for more than 10 years. He was never a bad boy. I told him he must never be an area boy when he went to Lagos. He listened to me and became a tyre repairer instead.
“All through the time he was there, I never heard anything bad about him. He always ensured he sent me money regularly, no matter how small it was. He came home recently and bought me this phone. He said he could not be working in Lagos, while I did not have a phone.
“On Thursday, he called me on the phone and said he would be coming home to visit us on Friday (the day after he was shot dead). I did not know I was speaking with my son for the last time. May God judge that policeman. He will die in prison by God’s grace.”
Rahmon said the police should release the body of his son as soon as possible. He said the fact that it was still being held was adding to the sorrow of the family.
He lamented that the Lagos State Police Command had not called to sympathise with him.
In tears, he regretted that his son had been killed like a nobody.
While he spoke, Rohimat, who was obviously seething with anger interjected with her voice that had gone hoarse with wailing. She said that nothing would ever be done to compensate for the many things Ibrahim had promised he would do for her.
It is obvious this family, whose main stay is farming, has lost a helper in their slain son.
However, our correspondent learnt that contrary to reports that Ibrahim had withheld the tyres of an individual, who enlisted the help of the policeman that shot the tyre repairer, Saturday PUNCH learnt that the deceased was not involved in any issue with anybody.
When Saturday PUNCH visited the scene of the alleged murder on Tuesday, Ibrahim’s friends said the deceased was a mere bystander who was shot by a trigger-happy policeman.
Sati, who is the chairman of the conductors’ association at the bus stop, was an eyewitness and a participant in the misunderstanding that led to Ibrahim’s death.
He told Saturday PUNCH at Pleasure Bus Stop that members of his group were accused of stealing some tyres at the bus stop.
“We were all arguing and I know my members well that they would do no such thing. The argument went on and that was when I saw the patrol van of the Elere Police Division passing by.
“We called the policemen to take us all to the station to sort out the issue because we were being accused wrongly. The policeman who shot Ibrahim at first did not intervene. His action there suggested that he was the one leading the patrol at the time.
“He stood apart, looking at us while his men sorted out the issue. The argument went on and I remembered Ibrahim was standing by, just looking at the scene. Suddenly the policeman raised his rifle and fired some shots.”
Sati said he had no idea what had happened as many people fled.
He explained that by the time the confusion settled, he saw Ibrahim on the ground, bleeding heavily from his forehead.
The policemen fled immediately but later returned for the body.
Saturday PUNCH learnt that a mob marched to Elere Police Division in protest, an action which forced the police to arrest the killer policeman and hand him over to the SCID.
The Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Command, Mr. Umar Manko, has described the incident as ‘death by accidental discharge’ but promised that Abdullahi would be prosecuted.
Ibrahim’s uncle, Mr. Odegbami Suraju, told Saturday PUNCH that the family was awaiting the post-mortem examination to be conducted on the body.
“The police paid the post-mortem and mortuary bills. The police authorities said there would be a meeting on Tuesday and they would communicate to us the outcome of the meeting. So, we await whatever decision would be taken on the case,” he said.
Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Ngozi Braide, said the process that would culminate in the orderly room trial of the policeman had begun.
“The process is ongoing. We’ll make the outcome of the orderly room trial known after it is completed,” she told Saturday PUNCH
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