2 okada riders killed as gunmen strike near YabaTech

The families of two motorcyclists have called on the police to track down the gunmen who shot them dead around Abule Ijesha and Yaba College of Technology (YabaTech) areas of Lagos.

The victims were together at the Abule Ijesha junction waiting for passengers when the assailants shot Sheriff Sulaiman in the head.

Sulaiman’s relative, Abu Tairu, said the father of one died on the spot, adding that his corpse was transported to his hometown in Katsina, where he was buried.

“I was at my shop when people came to inform me that armed robbers shot Sulaiman to death at Abule Ijesha Bus Stop,” he told Punch.

“They shot him in the head and stole his motorcycle around 6am. When I got there, I saw his corpse on the road and blood was gushing out of his body.

“He was at the bus stop with his colleague when the armed robbers attacked him.

Sulaiman was from Katsina state and he was married with a child; we took his corpse to the village and buried him on the same day.”

Immediately Suleiman was hit by the bullet, Sanni Abubakar, who witnessed the incident, raised the alarm and sped off to escape being attacked.

However, the robbers, who reached for Suleiman’s motorcycle, trailed Abubakar down to the Yabatech bus stop and allegedly shot him dead.

His nephew, Awalu, said that hoodlums around the Mushin area of the state were responsible for the attacks, adding that the deceased left behind two wives and a child.

“Immediately the armed robbers shot him in the head and body, they stole his motorcycle,” Awalu said.

“He was attacked around Yabatech junction around 7am. He was not the only person that was killed on that day as they killed another person at Abule Ijesha bus stop.

“I used N110,000 to hire a vehicle that took his corpse to Jigawa State for burial on the same day.

“He left behind two wives and a child. The area boys are mostly responsible for the attacks in that area and they mostly come from the Mushin axis.

“I am yet to return to Lagos,” he said.

Lagos police spokesperson Muyiwa Adejobi said efforts were on to arrest the hoodlums behind the killings.

Adejobi said, “On June 23, 2021, Abu Tairu reported at the station that around 5.30am, his brother, Sheriff Sulaiman, 30, was shot dead and his unregistered Bajaj motorcycle was taken away at Abule Ijesha bus stop.

“He stated further that one Sanni Abubakar, 29, who witnessed the incident and raised the alarm on the operation, was trailed and shot dead at Abule Ijesha, by YabaTech, while his motorcycle was also taken away.

“The corpses were about to be moved to the morgue when the relatives of the deceased bluntly refused that based on their religion, they did not want embalmment and autopsy to be conducted.

“Efforts are on to track the perpetrators.”