There has been a rain of tears in the house of Chief Fatai Jubril, the slain Baale of Lootu town in Ibeju Lekki Local Government Area of Lagos State.

Wails, sobs and screams rented the air as residents gathered to mourn the late chief who was allegedly killed over a land dispute with another chief, identified only as Omotola, in the neighbouring town of Museyo.

Jubril’s wife, Ejiro, who is a nursing mother of a three-month old baby, was inconsolable as she sat in a corner, arms folded, while she stared in disbelief.

The widow said her husband was shot at exactly 12:21pm on July 15, 2023, while she held him in her arms.

She said contrary to reports that Omotola ordered his police escort to shoot Jubril after physically assaulting him, Ejiro blamed her husband’s death on Omotola.

Narrating the incident to Saturday PUNCH, she said on the fateful morning, she sat outside washing clothes before she suddenly heard noise from a distance.

She continued in tears, “I ran with my children to see what was happening. On getting there, it was my husband badly beaten up, with his clothes torn. There was a crowd of hoodlums with various weapons and Omotola was there. I asked what was happening, and he said in Yoruba ‘A ma yanju eleyi o (We will take care of this one). On hearing that, I held on to my husband and refused to leave him.

“Other people started running away because of the many weapons the boys were wielding; planks, bottles, knives, stones, cutlass and others. I started begging them to leave my husband who had been attacked with cutlass all over his body. I tried to protect him because the beating was too much, then they started beating both of us.

“They said we would both die. I told them that whatever the matter was, it could be settled amicably. But instead of listening to me, I received slaps from different corners.”

Ejiro said a man whom she didn’t know before then came out of nowhere and asked Jubril to follow him, but that she resisted until the hefty hoodlums overpowered her.

She added, “I refused and said my husband was not going anywhere. His clothes were torn, and you could hardly hold any part of his body because of blood dripping all over. They wanted to handcuff him and I asked why when he wasn’t a thief. When they saw that I was being stubborn, one of them pushed me while Omotola used his shoe to hit me on the leg and I fell to the ground.”

Ejiro said after she regained her stability and stood, she realised the assailants had gone far into the bush.

She added, “I ran to catch up with them and held my husband by the leg. One of the men sprayed teargas on his face. When they noticed that I didn’t give them the chance to go further into the bush, Omotola hit my husband on the chest three times right before me, I don’t know what that meant. He then gave him a slap in his face and he burst into tears.”

Ejiro said while she was still consoling him, the unexpected happened.

She added, “Suddenly, Omotola hit the butt of the gun on the ground three times and the next thing I heard was a loud bang. He shot my husband. I cried out ‘You have killed my husband’ but he simply said my husband’s eyes had seen what he was looking for and that the deed had been done.”

Soaked in tears, she said it was her first time seeing Omotola.

“I know him but I never knew he was the one bearing the name. It was Omotola who shot my husband, not a mobile policeman. My husband was shot in my arms at exactly 12:21pm that day. It was after the incident that policemen were contacted and they took the body to Akodo Police Station.”

But before the policemen got involved, she said after the hoodlums dispersed, she begged several motorcyclists to help carry the body, but no one responded.

“They saw blood all over my body and probably thought I was mad,” she added. Blood was coming out of his nose, and I was the person who dragged the body to where the police were.

“My husband was a very caring man who took good care of his family. Although my brother-in-law and me went to Panti, where I wrote my statement, I haven’t been contacted by anybody since then. The government should help me, I have no power to fight this alone. My husband must not die like that. Since the incident, no single arrest has been made. This should not be swept under the carpet. Let Nigerians help me.”

Similarly, an older brother to the deceased, Dr Fatai Ekundayo, lamented that no arrest had been made since the incident was reported over three weeks ago.

He said despite intervention by other traditional rulers, there had been no significant response from the police.

Ekundayo, a medical doctor, said when he arrived at the scene his brother was lifeless.

He added, “My brother was killed in the presence of his wife and child. The corpse was then moved to the Akodo Police Station. On getting to the station, we met with the Divisional Police Officer and the Investigating Police Officer requested statements from the eyewitnesses. The corpse was then moved to a morgue.

“The second day we were called to report to Panti to see the Commissioner of Police. I took the widow and the child along. On getting there, we explained what happened to the IPO, one Mr Alonge, and the senior officer who was in charge of the case. They came to Akodo for investigation the following Wednesday; visited the scene of the incident and home of the deceased and then went to the general hospital to see the corpse. But since then nothing has been done.

“Even Opeomoluwa of Ikate land visited Zone 2, but nothing was done and no arrest was made. The police said they wanted to do an investigation but they only came and conducted interviews. The case is getting cold and time is going. Let the police please not leave us to this matter, so things don’t get out of hand.”

Ekundayo claimed that some people in the community knew where the perpetrators were hiding and that the family had been to both the local government and the Onibeju of Ibeju, but nothing came out of the visits.

“In a country that has a government, this shouldn’t be happening,” he added.

The PUNCH earlier reported that a protest broke out in the community as Lootu residents, including youths, women, the aged, and the family members took to the streets to demand justice for their murdered chief, while demanding the Commissioner of Police, Idowu Owohunwa’s, intervention.

Killing traced to land dispute

Saturday PUNCH gathered that the land, which caused the issue between the chiefs, was once given to a white man, known only as Hatrick, for excision in 2008.

An engineer, Agbabiaka, who introduced himself as Jubril’s relative, said the white man made the suspect his agent in charge of the land, but that after Hatrick and his son’s death, the suspect started posing as the owner of the land.

He added, “The land that caused this issue was originally given to Hatrick for excision in 2008. Unfortunately, the excision was done for Lootu and Museyo together. After some time, Hatrick who then bought a piece of land in the area as compensation for his work with them, made Omotola his agent.

“But after some time, we learnt that both Hatrick and his son died. Soon afterwards, Omotola started showing up as the supposed owner of the land. He came with a lawyer and documents for the land. We told him to show us the power of attorney given to him by the white man. Since he couldn’t produce it, he then brought land-grabbers and mobile policemen to the land for over a year, built a shed for them and they have since been harassing people who visit the land.”

“Lootu has been in existence long before Museyo and we made Jubril the Baale in 2022. Omotola is not a Baale in Museyo, there is a court order preventing him from parading himself as one. Omotola has been a menace to Museyo for a while; he has committed a lot of atrocities. He has been proposing to become Baale of Museyo but he is not. Chief Fatai Jubril was the legitimate Baale. The Kabiyesi Oba Onibeju, Walihulai Rasak Olasunkanmi, asked the suspect not to parade himself as a Baale anymore.”

Agbabiaka further revealed that policemen from Abuja and Panti visited the town for investigation and “we were told they found police uniforms and bullets at the scene of the crime which they took to Lagos.”

Agbabiaka added, “Omotola bragged that the judiciary belonged to him and that he would pay N50m to kill the case. Jubril was beaten with different charms and hit on the head several times with sticks before he was gunned down. Omotola also claimed that other people in the town will be killed. We want to prevent further bloodshed, that is why we reported to the police and we are scared because we don’t know what else they could do.”

I recognised some hoodlums – Eyewitness

A resident of the community, Bukola Talabi, who said she was present when the incident took place, stated that she recognised some of the hoodlums who were with Omotola when Jubril was being attacked.

The eyewitness claimed to have tried to calm them down and prevent them from harming Jubril but that the assailants ignored her.

She further claimed that she watched as Jubril was gunned down.

She stated, “I was in the kitchen when I heard people shouting ‘Come outside, they are fighting’. I thought they were joking or they were acting because theatre performers usually use this place. When I heard they were beating Jubril and Olayinka, Jubril’s aide, I ran outside and saw people with bottles, cutlasses, charms and other weapons beating them. I went to their midst and demanded an explanation.

“I recognised one of the boys among them, Kunle. I told him to look into my eyes and explain what had transpired. Kunle said Jubril brought police to arrest their people who were working on the land that some expatriates acquired. He said they were working on Museyo land and not on Lootu. He explained that the people arrested were in police custody.

“I asked them to leave Jubril and their people would be released but they refused. I also begged one of them, Bebe, to release Jubril to me. Another person there was Segun. At that point, Jubril could barely walk due to the beating they had given him. Then my brother, Boye, who was also at the scene asked me not to worry that Jubril wouldn’t be touched again but I said wherever they went, I would follow them.”

She stated that about four people dragged Jubril to where Omotola was standing with his police escorts whom he then asked to handcuff Jubril.

Talabi added, “When I heard the gunshot, I thought it was fired into the sky, until I saw Jubril and his wife fall to the ground before I knew that he had been shot. We all exclaimed and Omotola said ‘the deed had been done’.

“The Baale’s child who saw what happened ran towards the Mopol with the gun, the Mopol pointed the gun at the child before hitting the child with the butt of the gun. Omotola then asked all the policemen and the hoodlums to run away through the bush before he entered his car and left.”

Meanwhile, Olayinka Otuniyi, Jubril’s aide who was allegedly beaten alongside his boss, said Bebe, Segun, Wasiu, Lukman, and Yusuf were some of the names he could remember during the rancour.

Speaking with Saturday PUNCH he added, “The land in question doesn’t belong to Omotola. He was only an agent. Jubril asked that the documents of purchase of the land be presented to discuss with the family and confirm the purchase, but Omotola had already started building a fence on the land which brought about the arrest of the people working on the land.”

No update on case – Lagos PPRO

When Saturday PUNCH reached out to the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, for an update on the case, he said there was no update and the suspects were still on the run. “There is no update on the case for now, the suspects are still on the run,” he stated.

However, PUNCH Metro reported on Friday that Jubril’s family had raised concerns over the release of the prime suspect by the Zone 2 Police Command.

The Zone’s PPRO, Hauwa Idris-Adamu, had confirmed that other suspects, along with the prime suspect, had been arrested by the force.

When asked whether the prime suspect had been released on bail, she said she could not say because she was not the one investigating the case.

She stated, “The case is on, and the investigation is ongoing. We had an interview last week and they have been given another date to come. Not one person but many people have been arrested, including the Baale, whom they said sent people to kill him. They are all there.”

As regard the prime suspect’s reported release, she said, “That information I don’t have now. Until I go back to the office and make a confirmation. The case is somewhat cumbersome. It is about land, and the complainants are not complaining about land. They are complaining about the murder of their loved one. That is being carried out; an investigation is ongoing.” (Saturday PUNCH)

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