Detectives attached to the Homicide Section of the State Criminal Intelligence and Investigations Department (SCIID), Panti, Yaba, Lagos State, have arrested Mr. Bashiru Ahmed, for allegedly killing a father of five at the Okokomaiko area of the metropolis.
The deceased, Halilu Adamu, a 45-yearold Suya seller, was alleged to have been killed by Ahmed for laughing at him and his gang members. Adamu’s journey to the grave started after Ahmed’s friend fell into a gutter, eliciting laughter from the deceased.
Angry, Ahmed picked Adamu’s meat from the table and flung it on the ground.
Although Adamu was angry, he refused to pick a fight with Ahmed. Instead, he went to the market and bought another meat to use in making Suya. Adamu was going home at night, when Ahmed and his cronies allegedly waylaid and shot him in the chest. He died.
Later, the deceased’s friend carried out a reprisal, killing Ahmed’s friend. They also allegedly set fire on Ahmed’s father’s home. A witness said trouble started after Ahmed and friends, who were drunk, attempted to walk through where Adamu and other Muslims were praying on Friday.
Adamu stopped them from passing through the prayer area, noting that it was forbidden for drunks to pass where Muslims were praying. It was also learnt that because Ahmed and his friends were drunk, one of them fell into the gutter, causing laughter. The late Adamu was the first person to start laughing.
Our correspondent learnt that after the deceased finished praying, he continued to laugh. The way Adamu laughed angered Ahmed and his friends. They returned, picked the meat Adamu bought for making his Suya and flung it to the ground. When Ahmed and his gang members were leaving, they threatened to deal with Adamu and his workers.
Adamu’s in-law, Mr. Nasiru Habeeb, said: “When Ahmed and his friends threw the meat to the ground, Adamu went to lodge a complaint to Ahmed’s father. Ahmed’s father is the Seriki Hausa in the community.
The Seriki tried to refund Adamu for the meat, but he refused. He went to buy another meat with his money.
He prepared another Suya. “When Adamu was going home that same day after he was through with his business, Ahmed and his friends waylaid him around 11p.m. They shot him in the chest.
” Mr. Abdulahi Musa, another resident, said: “In Islam, it is forbidden for someone, who is drunk to pass through the mosque, let alone when people are praying. Ahmed and his friends were drunk on that day; that was why Adamu prevented them from passing through. We were all outside the mosque, to pray that Friday, when Ahmed came.
They wanted to walk through where we were praying. Adamu didn’t fight him.
Ahmed and his friend see themselves as untouchable in the community. That was why he is always misbehaving. We want security in our community.
” Ahmed’s father, the Seriki, Alhaji Adamu Ahmed, told our correspondent that the matter had been settled between his family and that of the deceased. He said: “I was in the mosque the following day after Adamu’s murder, when his friends came and set my palace on fire. They threatened to kill me.
It was due to the quick intervention of policemen from Okomaiko Police Station and OPMESA that my family and I got out of the mosque alive. We ran into safety.” It was also learnt that on September 17, Adamu’s friends allegedly caught one of Ahmed’s friends, pursued and killed him at Alaba Ragbo.
