The killing of a chartered accountant with Intercontinental Finance, a subsidiary of Intercontinental Bank Plc, Alhaji Ademola Adeagbo, on Friday evening by some unidentified gunmen, is being trailed by conflicting accounts.
A younger brother of the deceased, Mr. Adeniyi Adeagbo, told our correspondent on Sunday that his brother was brutally murdered by people suspected to be hired assassins at Orimerunmu in Obafemi-Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State.
But the police in Ogun State, who said that the deceased’s metallic grey Toyota Corolla metallic grey car had been recovered in addition to N94,000, a laptop, briefcase, four packet shirts and one wristwatch in his car, stated that it was not likely to be a case of assassination because he did not die immediately..
Adeniyi told PUNCH METRO that on the fateful day, the gunmen had first driven to the residence of the slain banker in a private vehicle but did not find him there.
He said they subsequently launched a manhunt for him until they met him on the road, discussing with one of his neighbours who was said to be recuperating from her illness.
He said, “When my brother returned from work, he went to his wife’s shop to look for her. When he got to the shop, his wife was not there but met his children and two of his friend’s children in the shop. His children decided to go with him in his car.
“As they were going towards home, he met his wife. His wife told him that there was a neighbour of theirs who had been ill for some time and that he should go and greet her. As he was going to the neighbour’s house, he met her on the way. He stopped, came out of the car and exchanged pleasantries with her. As he was talking with the woman, some men drove near them and stopped. They came out from their car and told him they were policemen and that he was under arrest.
“My brother told them he had no problem with the police and that if they were actually policemen, they should identify themselves. After saying that, the men put hands in their pouch as if they wanted to bring out their identification cards only for them to bring guns out and started dragging him to enter into their car in the full glare of his three children and the neighbour he was greeting. As he refused to follow them, they pulled the trigger and shot him dead. As the neighbour and the children ran away shouting, ‘Won ti pa Alhaji, (they have killed Alhaji), the gunmen zoomed off with my brother’s official car and their own.”
Adeniyi said that when the news filtered in that 45-year-old Adeagbo had been killed, the youths in the area allegedly chased the gunmen and they abandoned his brother’s official car at the end of Orimerunmu Road.
Curiously, his assailants did not ask him for money or anything, but were said to have told him before they shot him that they did not want anything from him but his life.
Speaking amid tears, Adeniyi told our correspondent that his brother’s death dealt a devastating blow to him in particular and the family in general.
He said his brother was a fine gentleman who was kind to a fault, wondering why good people should be killed with such cruelty.
“My brother did not do any business with anybody. I do not know why they chose to kill him. They have caused problem for us. He was the light of our family. I do not know how to pick the pieces of my life that his death has caused me. He was one brother that understood the plight of his people,” the anguished brother said.
However, the Ogun State Police Command spokesman, Mr. Ademuyiwa Adejobi, said, “It is not likely to be a case of assassination because he did not die immediately. He was alive when the vehicle was being taken away. He struggled with the bandits when he was shot.
“The command wishes to appeal to members of the public that when such things happen, they should not struggle with the bandits. The command is investigating a case of armed robbery and not assassination.”
Our correspondent, who visited the residence of the Adeagbos, saw a motley crowd coming to commiserate with the family.
The deceased’s wife was inconsolable. Many sympathisers thronged the residence to pay their last respects.
It was gathered that Adeagbo would be buried on Sunday.
