Lagos shooting: Killed brothers celebrating birthday

Two brothers, who were killed in Shitta area of Lagos State on
Thursday night, were celebrating the birthday of one of them.

Mufutau Akewusola clocked 27 on that day and his little brother,
22-year-old Malik, joined him and few other friends to mark the day.

They were having fun at a leisure spot not far from their house beside
Shitta Primary School when gunmen arrived at the scene and rained
bullets on the fun seekers.

Mufutau, a graduate of Lagos State University and Malik, a 200-level
student of the same institution, did not survive the attack.

A pregnant woman, Mrs. Raimot Balogun, who was having a chat with the
owner of the leisure spot, also died in the attack. A passer-by, Idris
Shashore, was shot in the arm.

A relative of the slain brothers told KRSonline on Sunday that the
assailants were about eight in number.

He said, "Around 7.30pm, Mufutau was having a drink with his brother,
his girlfriend and a few others. Raimot was having a chat with her
friend who owns the beer parlour. Mufutau escorted his girlfriend and
bade her farewell.

"Shortly after, about eight guys in fez cap stormed the place. Malik
saw them and started shouting 'gun, gun!' One of the guys shot Malik
and he fell to the ground. The guy pinned Malik to the floor, calling
him bastard repeatedly and shot him over six times.

"Mufutau and Raimot were running in the same direction when they were
shot. Malik died on the spot but Raimot was rushed to Lagos University
Teaching Hospital where she was declared dead."

When our correspondent visited the homes of the victims on Sunday,
residents and sympathisers were seen consoling the respective
families.

Raimot's husband, Babatunde Balogun, said he was pained because his
wife was pregnant. He said they had four children and with her demise,
it would be difficult taking care of the children.

He said, "I am a mechanic and my wife was a trader at Costain. My
first born, Musa, is 15 while the youngest, Hameed, is just four years
old. Aminat, who is our only daughter, turned 13 years old today
(yesterday), sadly, their mother cannot witness it as she was shot in
the stomach and killed like an animal.

"She did not die on the spot. After they shot her, she was crawling on
her belly but by the time she got to the hospital, she had lost too
much blood. All I want for her murder is justice."

Babatunde said the killing was cult-related and he urged the police to
carry out investigations with all sincerity.

Our correspondent, who also visited the Akewusola residence, learnt
that the slain brothers were the only sons of their mother.

It was learnt that Malik was a student of the Faculty of Education at LASU.

A cousin of the slain brothers said the two boys were not cult members.

He said, "Mufutau was a lady's man. He had friends in the
neighbourhood who were of shady character, but Mufutau was not the
violent type. Even when he went for his national youth service in
Calabar, he ran home when there was a minor riot.

"Malik on the other hand, was very playful but he was responsible. It
is a pity that they were the only sons of their mother. They have only
one sister."

Another resident told our correspondent that the killings were
perpetrated by outsiders which made it very difficult to trace them.

He said, "On the day they were killed, some unidentified guys were
seen sitting by their table, having some drinks. One of the guys was
talking to someone on the telephone.

"A few minutes before the culprits arrived, those guys had run away
which means it was a planned job. The culprits do not live in the area
but they have informants who assist them."

Meanwhile, it was learnt that residents were no longer taking chances
as they had imposed a curfew on themselves while some had begun to
relocate until the dust settled.

The residents said the curfew would be from 7pm to 7am as it had been
noticed that most of the killings occur from 7pm.

Some residents told PUNCH Metro on condition of anonymity that the
killing was a reprisal for the death of the Chairman of Keke Napep
operators, Kolapo Olatunji, who was killed by gunmen on April 21 2013,
opposite Shitta primary school, Surulere.

"All these killings that have been going are all about cult supremacy.
From what I learned, the death of the Akewusola brothers was meant to
avenge the killing of Olatunji.

The Chairman, Abebe Community Development Association, Alhaja Smith
Kolejo, said they were all living in constant fear due to the rising
level of insecurity.