Oluwatoyin Malik, Author at Sporting Tribune

A 23-year-old man, Ahmed Oyekola, who allegedly killed his grandfather and uncle in Ibadan during the week was arraigned at the Chief Magistrates Court 8, Iyaganku, Ibadan, on Thursday, September 12 on one count charge of murder. The suspect reportedly confessed to killing his grandfather and uncle, saying that he had yet to understand the evil spirit that got into him to behave the way he did. He was said to have disclosed that he entered his grandpa’s room and rummaged it to pick things when the old man asked who it was because he couldn’t see him. He was said to have given other details: “He thought his grandfather was sleeping. When he saw that he had been caught in the act, he picked a pillow and used it to suffocate Pa Oyekola, killing him instantly. “When his uncle, who was in his room, heard the commotion and tried to get up to see what was happening, Ahmed rushed at him and hit him with power bank in the mouth, injuring his lips and chin. “He made sure that his uncle also died and left the house with a small carton in which he put the Jalamiyah and Ankara that he stole from his grandfather’s room,” a credible source told Saturday Tribune. The Chief Magistrate, Mrs I.O. Osho, ordered the remand of the accused at Agodi prisons, pending legal advice from the Director of Public Prosecution. The case was adjourned till November 12, 2024. Sympathisers at the scene of the incident How it started When 23-year-old Ahmed Oyekola surreptitiously visited his grandfather, Pa Jimoh Oyekola, and his uncle, Mr. Semiu Oyekola, at their residence in Odo Eran area of Apete community in Ibadan, Oyo State on September 8, 2024, he had thought their neighbours and kin, who reside at the same building, would have gone to their shops for their daily businesses. He had always exploited the fact that his 82-year-old grandfather, and his uncle, aged 46, were both blind and had been like that for over two decades. Family members said he had always stolen their money, which were mostly gifts by people to cushion the effects of the physical challenge they were suffering. On the fateful day, Saturday Tribune learnt that Ahmed Oyekola had left his Alubata area of the same Apete at about 5 p.m. to his blind grandfather’s Odo Eran residence. His mission was the alleged usual theft of his money. However, Ahmed was caught in the act this time. A relative of Pa Oyekola who did not mention his name told Saturday Tribune that children, who were playing football beside the house, had seen Ahmed when he went into the house. They were said to have alleged that he came out with blood stains on him. The relative added that the children went to tell a tenant who was at a nearby motor park what they saw and that she was the one who made his arrest possible. It was further gathered that an irate mob almost lynched the suspect at the scene, but the police at the Apete Division of Oyo State Police Command saved him from being lynched. At the police station, the mob was still baying for the blood of the suspect. The Divisional Police Officer was said to have devised means to smuggle him out and immediately took him to the State Criminal Investigation Department in Iyaganku, for safety. Saturday Tribune was given an insight to Ahmed’s life story during a visit to the residence. The anonymous relative said: “Ahmed was learning Quran at Alubata but was sent away because of his character. Oyekola, he said, was originally from Opoyeosa in Ibadan before he came to build a house at Apete. “Nobody knew where Ahmed was living. His father, left Pa Oyekola about 20 years ago after he became blind, and never come to check him. He also abandoned all his children to his wife and went away with another woman. “We learnt that Ahmed didn’t have a particular place where he stayed but would come sometimes to Grandpa and steal from him, aware that he could not see. According to what we gathered, this last time he stole from him he had made sure no one was around; all tenants had gone to their shops. His uncle, who was his father’s immediate younger brother, Semiu Oyekola, who was also blind, was the only other person at home with Pa Oyekola. He was unmarried. “Ahmed went in and carried out his act, but was seen by children playing football nearby when he was leaving. They went to alert a tenant in her shop at a mechanic garage not far from the house and he was apprehended.” The Chief Imam of Opeloyeru Central Mosque, Odo Eran, Apete, Alhaji Ismail Kewugbemi Ajisafe, also expressed sadness at the killing of father and son by their grandson and nephew. He said: “Pa Oyekola was my father’s younger brother and they built their houses beside each other. Though I reside in another side of Apete, I come to Odo Eran every morning and return home at night. Pa Oyekola was also one of the worshippers in the mosque where I am the Chief Imam. “At about 5:30 pm on Sunday, I left Odo Eran after coming to greet my father, Pa Oyekola and others in the neighbourhood. I was on my way to Eruwa when I received a call that Pa Jimoh and his son, Semiu, were dead. I exclaimed, and said they must have been poisoned, or else, how could two of them die at the same time? “They both had the same challenge which was blindness. If they were to die, why should it be the same day? They didn’t come to the world the same day. One of them gave birth to the other. I couldn’t do anything because I was travelling, but I was asking those at home about what happened, and they told me that it was Ahmed who killed his grandfather and his uncle. “When I got to Ibadan on Monday morning, I learnt that the police in Apete, led by the DPO, saved Ahmed from being lynched by the mob that night. I was so angry that I felt that the people should have been left to satisfy their anger since he killed two of his blood relations who were just managing their lives with their blindness. His uncle remained single till he was killed because of his condition.” Alhaji Ajisafe dismissed the reports that Ahmed severed the heads of the deceased men. He also said it was not true that he had slashed the throat of his uncle. According to him, the first thing he did on his arrival from his journey and upon seeing their bodies was to check the bodies. He said he found them intact, save for a small wound on the chin of the uncle. He said Semiu Oyekola got injured probably when he was dragging with Ahmed and fighting for his life. Saturday Tribune was also privileged to observe the corpses during the visit and noticed that the bodies were intact and there were no severed parts, save for the wound seen on Semiu Oyekola’s jaw, and some marks on the right side of his head. The Chief Imam added: “I called the first daughter of Pa Jimoh and she reported that Ahmed was fond of exploiting the blindness of Pa Oyekola and his uncle by coming to steal the money people gave him and Semiu. “Our inference is that on that particular day, he came to steal their money again and thought they were asleep. Semiu probably tried to hold him when he wanted to run away and Ahmed injured him while trying to ward him off. Semiu’s struggle and cry must have attracted Pa Jimoh, an old and weak man. The grandson must have pushed the blind old man so hard that he fell badly, which resulted in instant death. He, however, admitted that Ahmed is the only one that can really say what he did that caused their deaths.” Alhaji Ajisafe remarked that though Ahmed belongs to the nuclear and extended families, his behaviour from young age had shown him as a bad person. He said: “If you see him display in your presence, you will know he has a problem. Part of Ahmed’s problems is that his father left his mother with all the children she had for him, and also left his father, Pa Jimoh, after he went blind 20 years ago. Since then, he has not once returned to check on his father, his children or any other family member. Nurudeen didn’t know when his mother died. He went away with a woman. “What really makes me cry is the wasted efforts of Ahmed’s mother. She struggled to put him in school, he would not go. She sent him to learn a trade but he refused to stay there. She took him to a Quranic school, but whenever it was time to start the lessons, he would tell the teacher that he was going out. “His Quran teacher had to report to me that Ahmed was uncontrollable, and that he always displayed frightening traits whenever he made attempts to discipline him. He said he could no longer accommodate him, but could be allowed to come back if he became calm. “The last straw that broke the camel’s back was when he stole a phone in the Quranic school. He was living with his teacher. When the Quran teacher saw that he would give his school bad reputation, he sent him away. It was learnt that when his father, Nurudeen, was called, all he said was that the mob should have been allowed to kill his son. Saturday Tribune learnt that Pa Oyekola was buried in his home on Tuesday, September 10, at about 5 p.m. after formalities were handled with the police and approval was given for the burial of the father and the son. Imam Ajisafe confirmed that Islamic rites were observed for the deceased at their Odo Eran home, after which Muslim leaders divided themselves into two: some stayed behind at home to bury Pa Oyekola while he went with others to the Muslim cemetery at Apete where the son, Semiu, was interred. READ ALSO: NERC: Abuja Disco to pay N1.69bn fines for overbilling customers