How Gunmen Killed Two Brothers In Lagos

Two brothers, who were killed in Shitta area of Lagos State on Thursday night, were celebrating the birthday of one of them.

Mufutau Akewusola clocked 27 on that day and his little brother, 22-year-old Malik, joined him and few other friends to mark the day.

They were having fun at a leisure spot not far from their house beside Shitta Primary School when gunmen arrived at the scene and rained bullets on the fun seekers.

Mufutau, a graduate of Lagos State University and Malik, a 200-level student of the same institution, did not survive the attack.

A pregnant woman, Mrs. Raimot Balogun, who was having a chat with the owner of the leisure spot, also died in the attack. A passer-by, Idris Shashore, was shot in the arm.

A relative of the slain brothers on Sunday said that the assailants were about eight in number.

He said, “Around 7.30pm, Mufutau was having a drink with his brother, his girlfriend and a few others. Raimot was having a chat with her friend who owns the beer parlour. Mufutau escorted his girlfriend and bade her farewell.

“Shortly after, about eight guys in fez cap stormed the place. Malik saw them and started shouting ‘gun, gun!’ One of the guys shot Malik and he fell to the ground. The guy pinned Malik to the floor, calling him bastard repeatedly and shot him over six times.

“Mufutau and Raimot were running in the same direction when they were shot. Malik died on the spot but Raimot was rushed to Lagos University Teaching Hospital where she was declared dead.”

On a visit to the homes of the victims on Sunday, residents and sympathisers were seen consoling the respective families.

Raimot’s husband, Babatunde Balogun, said he was pained because his wife was pregnant. He said they had four children and with her demise, it would be difficult taking care of the children.

He said, “I am a mechanic and my wife was a trader at Costain. My first born, Musa, is 15 while the youngest, Hameed, is just four years old. Aminat, who is our only daughter, turned 13 years old today (yesterday), sadly, their mother cannot witness it as she was shot in the stomach and killed like an animal.

“She did not die on the spot. After they shot her, she was crawling on her belly but by the time she got to the hospital, she had lost too much blood. All I want for her murder is justice.”

Babatunde said the killing was cult-related and he urged the police to carry out investigations with all sincerity.

Our correspondent, who also visited the Akewusola residence, learnt that the slain brothers were the only sons of their mother.

It was learnt that Malik was a student of the Faculty of Education at LASU.

A cousin of the slain brothers said the two boys were not cult members.

He said, “Mufutau was a lady’s man. He had friends in the neighbourhood who were of shady character, but Mufutau was not the violent type. Even when he went for  his national youth service in Calabar, he ran home when there was a minor riot.

“Malik on the other hand, was very playful but he was responsible. It is a pity that they were the only sons of their mother. They have only one sister.”

Another resident told our correspondent that the killings were perpetrated by outsiders which made it very difficult to trace them.

He said, “On the day they were killed, some unidentified guys were seen sitting by their table, having some drinks. One of the guys was talking to someone on the telephone.

“A few minutes before the culprits arrived, those guys had run away which means it was a planned job. The culprits do not live in the area but they have informants who assist them.”