Alade Odunayo, father of 13-year-old, Kehinde, who was killed by a trigger-happy policeman in Ibadan, shares with DANIEL AYANTOYE the circumstances surrounding the incident.

You are the father of the deceased child. Tell us about him.

Yes, my son?s name was Alade Kehinde Paul. He would have been 14 years old along with his twin brother by November 26, 2025. They (the twins) were in SS1, while their elder brother, Alade Emmanuel, is in SS3. Paul was a young, brilliant, and gentle boy. He was doing well academically, and his reasoning ability was superb. It is painful that we lost him.

Does that mean he was not the one sitting the WAEC examination as reported on social media?

Kehinde was not the person sitting the WAEC examination; it was his elder brother, Emmanuel, who was sitting the examination. I didn?t want him to be delayed, which was why I didn?t wait for them (the Oyo State Road Traffic Management Authority) when they used their vehicle to hit my car in an attempt to stop me. I didn?t know they now have policemen who will shoot you if you don?t stop for them.

Can you narrate the circumstances that led to the shooting of your son by the police?

As I was driving out, I encountered OYRTMA. I had got to the point where I was about to turn when I saw one of them. They blocked me and used their vehicle to hit my car. I couldn?t wait because I was in a hurry to take their elder brother for his WAEC examination at 8:30 am.

I only saw one of them, so I put my vehicle in reverse to evade him. Then another towing van came and hit my vehicle. As I was leaving, I suddenly heard a gunshot. Kehinde started shouting, ?Daddy!? I was even shouting at him that we had left the place, not knowing something terrible had happened.

It was his twin brother, Taiwo, who said he had been shot. That was when I parked and saw my son in a pool of blood. I didn?t know the OYRTMA officers were chasing me with the police, and that was when I grabbed one of them.

How many of you were in the vehicle?

We had five children, a pastor, his wife, and me. Three of the children were mine; the other two belonged to the pastor. The OYRTMA officers were aware that the children were in the vehicle before the shooting.

But the report was that your car had tinted glass. How are you sure they saw the children?

The car is not fully tinted. Only the back glass is tinted, but the sides are not. So, they (policemen and OYRTMA officials) could see all of us through the windows.

What was your immediate reaction when you noticed that your child had been shot?

I was shocked. I was devastated. It was a terrible thing?something I never imagined could happen to me. It was a bad experience. We all rushed down, and the pastor took him to the hospital (Welfare Hospital). From there, they took him to the Secretariat. This is painful?such a horrible experience for me, a parent, to witness my child being killed in my presence.

Can you identify the policeman who shot at your vehicle?

It was a policeman who shot him, but I don?t know who it was because I was driving and they tried to run away. But I grabbed one of them. The Divisional Police Officer from Gbagi Police Station came yesterday (Tuesday), and I heard that the police commissioner also came to the scene of the incident.

There was a protest after the incident. What happened when you got to the Oyo State Secretariat?

My son was rushed to the Secretariat from the Welfare Hospital, and it was there that one of the advisers to the governor said he was not around, but he promised that they would look into the issue. He then asked me to tell the people to go outside.

That was when one of the protesters told me that I might be the father of the boy, but from that point on, the child belonged to everybody?that the matter was now beyond me. Someone even asked me how we got onto the premises, and I said I didn?t know. People were just there.

Were you the one that organised the protest?

No, in fact, I didn?t know where the people came from. I don?t know how the large crowd gathered. I just saw many people and motorcycles inside the compound (Governor?s Office). The number was uncountable.

Initially, I wasn?t with them because I was holding on tightly to one of the policemen. Later, someone came and assured me that they would handle him?that was when I let go.

Where is the corpse now and is there any plan for the burial?

The corpse is with the state government and we have not spoken about the burial yet.

Why?

I told them I wanted a proper investigation and justice for the boy. I want to know who the killer is. His identity should be revealed.

Reports say the policemen thought you were a Yahoo boy (fraud), but you have denied such an allegation. What is your occupation?

I am not into Yahoo. I wonder why anyone would think someone like me would be into that kind of job. I was selling cars before the business went bad. Later, someone got that car for me to start an Uber business. I don?t know anything about the Yahoo boys. I am not a Yahoo boy.

Did you have any premonition that something unusual would happen to you before leaving the house with your son on that fateful day?

No, I didn?t feel that anything would happen, but I think he was feeling something that morning because he was acting differently. Usually, he would have woken up around 5 am, done the house chores, and if it was his turn to cook, he would have prepared himself the night before and immediately after waking up, he would do the cooking.

But yesterday (Tuesday) morning, I wasn?t around. I was told he woke up and came to the sitting room to lie down without doing anything, which was unusual. When they asked him if he wasn?t going to do his chores, he entered the room and came out again, put on the fan and the light, and then turned them off again; playing with it.

These were things he had never done before. Then he went to take his bath, and when I returned, we left together. Meanwhile, Daniel (Taiwo, his twin brother) told me when we came back home that he could have been the victim.

When I asked him why he said that, he told me that where Kehinde sat (inside the car) was his usual position, as they often rotated seating arrangements. It was his turn to sit there, but when he waited for Paul (Kehinde) to get in, he (Kehinde) refused and shouted at him to go inside.

So, Daniel entered first, and Paul sat in his place. Also, Emmanuel (their elder brother) said when I was about to drive into the road, Paul told him he wanted to relax his back and asked him to shift. It was exactly the place Emmanuel shifted from that the bullet later penetrated Kehinde?s body.

The state government said you were driving against traffic when the incident happened. How would you react to that?

Should that be the reason why they killed my son? That place is where everybody passes because it is close to our junction, and the other turning point is very far. When they blocked me, I wanted to wait, but I felt that if I had waited, they would say I damaged their vehicle, whereas they were the ones that hit my car.

Secondly, I was considering the boy who was to sit an exam, because they would have held me down, and he would have been late. I didn?t know that they had started attaching policemen with guns to OYRTMA.

What do you want the government to do in this matter?

I want justice. It may be me today, and nobody knows who it will be tomorrow. So, I want justice. They should produce the person who killed my son.

What information have the police given you?

They have not given me any information. It?s only the things I am seeing on social media ? that I am a Yahoo boy, that I kidnapped the children in my car, and that my car was tinted. All of those are false.

It?s only the back windscreen that is tinted; the others are not. So, they saw everybody before the incident happened. I also heard that they had arrested the policeman and others involved in the act. For me, what matters is that justice is served.

It was said that the police wanted to move your car from Gbagi Police Station to Iyaganku Police Station. Did they tell you why?

I think it?s for the investigation ? to check where the bullet penetrated. We took it to Gbagi when they told us to bring it. Now, they said they should take it to Iyaganku to help with their investigation.

There are reports that the policeman who shot your son has been arrested. What do you want the police to do to him?

Justice! I want justice for my son because this is not right. How can you just shoot at someone like that without considering the children in the car? As I said earlier, they saw every one of us before shooting. I didn?t tint my glass. Everyone was visible through the window. So, those stories online that I tinted my glass are lies.

Have you been invited by the state government or the police since the incident occurred?

No, I have not been invited.

You are a single father catering for the three children before tragedy struck. How long has their mother been gone?

She left in 2018, and to date, God has been helping me. It hasn?t been easy, but it?s all by the grace of God.

Has their mother reached out to you since the incident?

Yes, she called me today (Wednesday) and was crying. She also called the other children yesterday.

Before now, does she call you?

No, she doesn?t call me, but she does call her children.

What did your son say he wanted to become in the future?

He wanted to be a lawyer, and if you saw how he talked, reasoned, and questioned you on issues, you would know he would fit into the profession. When they were in JSS3, about to resume SS1, as usual, I paid their school fees before resumption and bought all their textbooks.

So, I bought science books for the two of them, but after the second term, when they resumed, he said he wasn?t interested in science, but in art, and wanted to become a lawyer. The science textbooks are still at home. I had to buy art textbooks for him.

How was his relationship with his siblings before his death?

The three of them were very close.

How did the other children react to the incident?

They are down. It is not easy to lose a loved one. It is a painful experience for us. We never imagined such a thing could happen. You can imagine that someone they used to play with is no more. He and his twin brother were the best of friends you can ever imagine. They did almost everything together.

They would even go as far as sleeping and playing on the same couch together, even when there were other spaces. They didn?t go out unnecessarily and were always together. This is painful. All we want is justice. We never can tell who it will be tomorrow, and that is why justice is important. (Saturday PUNCH)

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