RESIDENTS of Koro in Tunga Maje, a suburb of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, are still in shock over the gruesome murder of a 59-year-old Shuaibu Tijani, on Tuesday night last week by hoodlums alleged to be a group of Koro village “boys”.
Mr Tijani, who hailed from Ofejiji-Oganenugu in Dekina Local Government Area of Kogi State, was allegedly murdered as a result of a disagreement on a football field between his children and his suspected killers.
When the Nigerian Tribune visited visited the late Tijani’s residence located at Angwa Bassa by New Poultry in Tunga Maje, the atmosphere in the area was enveloped by mourning as neighbours and other sympathisers thronged the residence to console the deceased’s family.
Unfortunately, however, it was reliably gathered that the police were yet to make any arrest after the incident that took place about a week ago.
One of the late Tijani’s sons, Sani, who spoke to the Nigerian Tribune, said the boys numbering about 12 stormed their residence at Angwa Bassa, brandishing different arms and cudgels including cutlass, knife and stick, with the aim of attacking him and his brother, Salam.
The 23-year-old Sani in tears, narrated how his father was killed in the horrendous attack by the “village boys”. He said: “When we were playing football at a field in Tunga Maje, on Tuesday, 4th April, 2017, a boy came and he was asked to be the goalkeeper for my team but I declined because he was not too good. I decided to be the goalkeeper and the boy insulted me.
“My younger brother, Salam, who was at the field then cautioned the boy to stop insulting me since i was not his age mate. There, the boys started threatening my brother and me, boasting they would come for us later.
“At night, about 8pm, they arrived at our residence about 12 of them with cutlass, knife and some of them holding sticks. They started looking for Salam who was at a chemist store watching television at the time. I quickly ran to him, called him out and urged him to go and hide in the room. But as soon as I came out, I saw my father advancing to the boys to ask them what could have gone wrong. They attacked him and he fell down, hitting his head on a stone.
“Even while my mother and all of us were battling to rescue my dad, these boys were still around threatening to deal with me and my brother. It was then my mother left my dad and went to report the case at Tunga Maje Police Station.”
According to the wife of the deceased, Habibat Tijani, who cried as she narrated, the police officers at Tunga Maje were reluctant to follow her as they were afraid of the Koro boys.
“Even the police officer that later followed me home saw that despite my husband’s condition, some of the boys were still around, threatening to do and undo. With the officer, we carried my husband to the station at Tunga Maje.
“There, they transferred the case to Zuba Divisional Police Headquarters and we carried my husband to the station in Zuba. It was in this process that my husband died.”
Mrs Tijani, who called on all well-meaning Nigerians to intervene in the matter, appealed to the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, to ensure that the killers of her husband were brought to justice in order to serve as a deterrent to others.