June 2, 2012  by Comfort Oseghale 5 Comments

At noon on May 25, 2012, Araromi Street in the Somolu area of Lagos was already deserted. Broken bottles littered the front of house N0. 23, the venue of a child naming ceremony that took place the previous night and the scene of the cold-blooded murder of  a printer.

The printer, Olarenwaju Ogunsanwo,    was allegedly stabbed to death during a fight over his girlfriend, Bukola.

Already, some residents who were present at the naming ceremony have accused one Idris Olumeto, a son of the Baale of Somolu, of killing Ogunsanwo.

One of the residents told CRIME DIGEST that the incident was remotely ignited by an argument between the friends of Ogunsanwo and Olumeto.

He said, “Ogunsanwo had earlier attended a party  that Thursday afternoon at a Hotel. After a while, he moved down to Araromi Street with some of his friends. His girlfriend’s younger brother, known to everyone as TM, was hosting a naming ceremony for his baby. Everyone was having fun until a group of cultists arrived. They were all dressed in red. They were about 30 in number.”

The resident said that as soon as the cultists arrived at the party, other guests in attendance became uncomfortable. Suddenly, a loud argument was heard outside. It turned out that a youth named  Dare Ibironke  had challenged one of Ogunsanwo’s friends for dancing with Bukola, Ogunsanwo’s girlfriend.

The resident continued, “Ibironke was offended because the other man claimed Bukola was dating Olumeto. Some people waded into the matter, including Ogunsanwo, and tried to settle it.

“The next thing we knew was that Ibironke had broken a bottle and tried to stab Ogunsanwo with it. One of the guests deflected the blow with his hand and was wounded in the process. That did not stop Olumeto, who took everyone by surprise. He just came in from behind and stabbed Ogunsanwo in the throat.”

CRIME DIGEST investigations showed that immediately Ogunsanwo was stabbed, the boys in red, alleged to be members of the Eiye Confraternity, brought out guns and began to shoot sporadically.

As a result, Ogunsanwo could not be taken to hospital for treatment.

While the shooting continued, a team of policemen had arrived from the Alade Police Division and exchanged gunfire with the cultists before arresting some of them.

Ogunsanwo was then taken to the Oguntolu General Hospital where he was confirmed dead at about 9 pm. The next morning, a riot almost occurred at the residence of the deceased when a top police officer from the Alade Police Station, threatened to shoot at the crowd of mourners.

It is rumoured that Ogunsanwo’s murder was planned and the naming ceremony was the smokescreen for the act, which was meant to punish the deceased for compelling Bukola to have an abortion.

Another resident said, “Bukola already had two children for another man before she began her affair with Ogunsanwo. A few months ago, he travelled to Port Harcourt and when he returned, Bukola informed him that she was pregnant and he told her to abort the baby. Since he was killed, Bukola and TM have fled Somolu.”

A source said, “Instead of the police to investigate the crime, make appropriate arrests and prosecute suspects, they are taking advantage of the situation. Ibironke and Olumeto are currently on the run. Meanwhile, the police deceived Ogunsanwo’s family into signing a statement that they were not interested in prosecuting the matter.

“These attacks are not strange in Somolu. They have become common because the Alade Police Division is doing nothing about them. Whenever these cultists who call themselves the Feeling/Stealing boys strike, all the police do is arrest suspects and collect money from them.”

Another resident, a 200 level female student of Yaba College of Technology told CRIME DIGEST how she was arrested the day after Ogunsanwo’s murder.

She said, “I don’t live on Araromi Street, but my mother owns a shop there. Last Friday, I had gone to my mother’s shop to collect my school ID card. I had a test that morning by 10 and I was in a hurry to go to school. As I made to leave after locking up, four policemen arrived. They said I had locked up someone in my mother’s shop. One of them forcibly took the key from my hand and tried to unlock the shop.

“When he couldn’t, he asked me to get into their car with one other girl. We were taken to the Alade Police Station where we wrote statements. The policemen accused us of wandering and my mother had to pay N8,500 to bail me. I was later released at 12 pm, five hours after I was arrested.”

A concerned member of the Somolu Community Development Association, Mr. Oduayo Kokumo, said, “I have lived in Somolu for 25 years, things were not  like this. This problem with cultists and other assassins began about five years ago and nothing has been done about it. The parents of these boys live in our midst and even the police know their addresses, but nothing has been done. Whenever these cultists are arrested by the police, some powerful people would go to the station to bail them out. It is just an endless vicious cycle aided by the indecision of the Somolu CDA and the complicity of the police.”

However, the Baale of Somolu, Akani Jimoh Olumeto, denied the allegations that Idris stabbed Ogunsanwo. He said, “There is no problem at Somolu, the information you have is wrong.  None of my sons killed anybody; they are not wanted by the police. The one they arrested at Alade police station, I came to bail him. When the police also told me that they needed him, I brought him back. I am an ex-service man myself. Nothing of such took place here.”

When CRIME DIGEST contacted the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer Mr. Joseph Jaiyeoba,  for his reaction, he said, “I am not aware this incident took place. I will contact you when I have the facts.”

Olarenwaju’s corpse was allegedly released to his family the same day and he was buried at the Atan Cemetery, Yaba.

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