Igbogbo killing: Parents of 14-year-old cry to Sanwo-Olu, Lagosians for justice

Tribune Online
Igbogbo killing: Parents of 14-year-old cry to Sanwo-Olu, Lagosians for justice

Parents of Qudus Anifowoshe, a 14-year-old boy, who was murdered and dismembered at Igbogbo Agunfoye Ire, in Ikorodu area of Lagos State, have stormed the Government Secretariat, Alausa, Ikeja, to urge the state governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, to impress on men of the Nigeria Police to carry out thorough investigation into the murder of their innocent son and serve them justice for their lost son.

Both Mr and Mrs Taofeek Anifowose, father and mother of Qudus, who was found dead, after being searched for and the body discovered mutilated, with vital organs, including his tongue, heart, private parts, among others removed, made the plea while speaking with newsmen on Monday evening, even as they also urged all Lagosians to assist in ensuring that true justice was delivered in the case.

According to them, the appeal to Lagosians became imperative as they were not truly convinced that the police was actually carrying out any investigation as they had promised.

Anifowose, father of the deceased, while acknowledging that the suspect, one 17-year-old Daniel Amme, a student of Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), had since been arrested and now in police custody, said police never deemed it fit to conduct on the spot investigation at the scene where the mutilated body of Qudus was discovered, five days after he was declared missing.

He added that the police had also not deemed it fit to come back to the scene as well as the home where the suspect lives with his grandmother, one Mrs Comfort Omoyeghe Dickson, for any form of investigation.

Qudus had been declared missing on the evening of October 14, at about 7:00 p.m. and was said to have left home two hours prior to that time, while his mutilated body was later found after three days’ search in an uncompleted building behind the Ammes compound.

Qudus, who attended Arabic school on the same street where his family lives, was reported to have been sent home that fateful day to retrieve his Quran, but never returned until his mutilated body was found behind the said house precisely on October 18 by a search team.

According to father of the deceased, who recalled that it was Daniel’s grandmother, Mrs Dickson, that was seen the following morning sounding bell round the street to announce that Qudus was missing and being looked for, the police did not appear to be doing anything to ensure that justice was delivered.

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He said that besides the fact that the police never entered the Ammes premises to carry out any search despite series of evidence that abounds there, they also did not interrogate the suspect, recalling that Daniel, who since been detained, following his arrest, was brought by a senior lawyer, who said questions should be directed to him by the police and not the suspect.

“The police did not do any investigation they claimed to be doing. The senior lawyer who accompanied the main suspect, Daniel to the station said police should direct questions at him and not Daniel, that he should be asked questions and not Daniel,” Mr Anifowose said.

“I am pleading with our dear Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and the Lagosians to come to my rescue, Qudus is dead, but I plead for true justice in this matter.

“For the past 15days, I have not had any rest. It was even Daniels grandmother that started sounding a bell around our street early morning the following day when Qudus got missing, announcing the incident, asking that the boy was being looked for by his parents,” he said.

Also speaking, Qudus’ mother, Mrs Rasheedat Anifowose, also denounced police attitude to the case at hand, recalling that men of the force had some days past came to pack some items from Amme’s house but were resisted by her and some residents who joined her in such protest.

She also called on the state government and Lagosians to come to the rescue and ensure true and unfettered justice were delivered by bringing the suspect to go free.

Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Bala Elkanah, in his reaction, dismissed the allegation, saying there was no basis to allege that the in the police were trying to cover up the matter.

According to Elkanah, who spoke on the telephone, the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in the area did a good job by arresting the suspect, adding that there was no concrete evidence linking the grandmother with the murder.

“The boy (Daniel) is still in custody. I don’t want to join issues with the bereaved. The boy has been transferred to the SCID. It is painful that they lost a child, they should be calm as the police are carrying out intensive investigation and will ensure that justice is done,” the PPRO said.

Igbogbo killing: Parents of 14-year-old cry to Sanwo-Olu, Lagosians for justice
Tribune Online