Guard On Rescue Mission Mistakenly Kills Boss

The Lagos State Police Command has arrested a 30-year-old security guard, Segun Salami, for allegedly killing his boss, Alhaji Taiyewo Awolesi, in Ewuowa, Ikorodu area of the state.
The police said the suspect was on his way to rescue Awolesi, who was being harassed by touts in the area, when he shot him in error.
But Salami said the bullet, which killed his master on July 25, 2013, did not emanate from his gun.

Salami, said, “I am a security guard in the neighbourhood and I am also a bricklayer at a cemetery in the area. A telecoms company is constructing a mast on Alhaji’s (Awolesi’s) property and he called me to help him to do some work.

“After I had completed the work, he gave me N500 and I left. I was on my way to the cemetery when I started hearing gunshots.

“Alhaji called me on the telephone, saying I should come to his rescue because touts were harassing him for money because of the mast being constructed on his land.

“I went to get my locally made gun, put some gun powder in it and rushed back to Alhaji’s land which is very close to the cemetery.”

Salami said on arriving at the scene, he met a large number of thugs. He said he instructed the deceased to run away from the scene and report at the police station.

He said he had not even brought out his gun when the deceased was killed.

He said, “I strapped the gun to my back and was attempting to disperse the thugs when someone shot Alhaji.

“Immediately after Alhaji fell to the ground, all the hoodlums fled. I tried to get him to a hospital but he died on the way.”

The indigene of Ijebu Ode, Ogun State, described the incident as the handiwork of the devil.

The suspect, who claimed to be married with two children, said the deceased was his benefactor.

“Alhaji was a very nice man. When my wife gave birth to a baby boy two weeks ago, he gave us money. It was those hoodlums that caused the whole thing,” he said.

When asked if he was licensed to own a gun, he said, “The gun was not mine, it belonged to my grandfather and we used to to hunt birds.”

It was learnt that Awolesi had been buried according to Islamic rites.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide, said she would call back. -