…All I want is justice for my slain son –Deceased’s father
…We live in fear, government must stop students’ gang fights, community residents lament
Joy Anyim
Some members of the Oto-Awori community in Ijanikin, Ojo, have described Jamiu Adewale, a 16-year-old student of Oto- Awori Senior Grammar School, Ijanikin, who stabbed to death, Wasiu Abdullahi, 16, a Senior Secondary School student of Government Secondary School, Alapere in Ijanikin as notorious.
The Nigerian Xpress learnt about the wayward student during a visit to the scene of the crime and his residence on Morountola Street, Ijanikin.
A cobbler, simply identified as Tony, a neighbour of the Jamiu family, revealed that Adewale, who also smokes Indian hemp, was also notorious for petty theft.
According to Tony, the incident that snowballed into the stabbing of Abdullahi with a kitchen knife in the neck, started penultimate Thursday, when Adewale had returned from school with part of his head swollen.
It was gathered that some students from both schools had engaged in a free-for-all. Adewale who had scores to settle with one Fowosere, a friend and classmate of Abdullahi, who had collected money from Adewale for a phone he was yet to deliver, took advantage of the opportunity.
The students clashed at Vespa bus stop, Ijanikin and Fowosere was said to have injured Adewale on the head.
Tony said: “Adewale returned from school that Thursday, with a part of his head swollen, his uniform worn inside out, he was also looking infuriated.
“We asked what happened to him, Adewale did not tell us. Even when he got home and his mother and grandmother asked about what happened to his head, he just told them he slipped and fell at school, a lie his parents believed. His grandmother and mother helped him nurse his wounds.
“The next day, being Friday, his mother asked him not to go to school due to the wounds. At first, he accepted, but about 11 a.m., he left the house wearing a short and a singlet. When we saw him leaving the house, we thought he was taking a stroll, not knowing he had picked a knife and was on a revenge mission.
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“It was later that day that news of his action reached the community. Since then, his parents and grandmother have relocated to an unknown destination. Their shops have also been locked. The fact is that Adewale’s parents contributed to his woes.
“He was the third of three children, he was not always scolded for any bad deed. He was not so notorious at home but was always having a fight outside. He smokes and if they say he is a cultist, I won’t be surprised.”
Narrating how it all happened that Friday, a classmate of Abdullahi who begged the reporter not to mention his name, for fear of being attacked by Adewale’s camp, said Adewale had come to their school to attack Fowosere.
He said the suspect, the deceased and Fowosere were all S.S.1 students, though from different schools. He said Adewale came to Government Secondary School that Friday with the mission to retaliate.
“On Thursday, Abdullahi’s friend, Fowosere, beat up Adewale because he took his phone. So, on Friday while Fowosere and Abdullahi were coming back from school, just down the street where the school is located, Adewale attacked Fowosere with a knife he brought from home. Abdullahi was trying to make peace between two, so he held Adewale’s hand.
“While the deceased was trying to pull the knife from the suspect, Adewale forcefully pulled the knife and it pierced into Abdullahi’s throat. Me, I think Fowosere escaped death because he is the son of an Alfa, so Abdullahi became the sacrificial lamb.
“Abdullahi was bleeding profusely and shouting for help when it happened. We had to use his uniform to cover his neck while taking him to Ademola Hospital, Ijanikin, yet he didn’t survive because the bleeding was too much.”
The teenage suspect, who fled after the incident was, however, arrested three days after the incident by a team of policemen led by the Ijanikin Divisional Police Officer, while attempting to escape at Iyana Isashi waterside.
Reports have it that the knife which Adewale brought from home to stab the deceased was laced with charm, but he missed his target, Fowosere and killed Abdullahi.
Another resident of Morountola Street, simply identified as Mrs Oluwafemi, said the suspect, who had absconded after the act but later arrested at his hideout at Iyana-Ira was an unhappy boy.
She said, “Adewale was an introvert, but I think his elder brother’s lifestyle, rubbed off on him. His elder brother was everything bad. But no one could talk to them for fear of being attacked, even as I talk to you, I cannot give you my full names or even allow them to see me talking to you. The fear of Adewale and his brother is the beginning of wisdom.
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“They steal and when you complain knowing they were responsible for the loss of an item, their parents will harass you and, in a very extreme case, the boys may organise their gang to attack you.”
A youth in the area, Victor, however, differed in his opinion. According to him, Adewale is an introvert but never caused trouble around. Victor maintained that Adewale’s action may have been as a result of peer pressure.
While calling for a permanent solution to gang wars in secondary schools in Ijanikin and other parts of Lagos, a security man at Government Secondary School, Alapere in Ijanikin said the government ought to introduce stiff penalties to deter fighting within and outside the school.
According to him, the issue of gang war has been in the system for a while without a solution, “I also attended a government secondary school back in the ‘80s. Even then, you would see students from different schools engaging one another in a fight. Sometimes many were injured and that is still the case till date. Now, I think the case is even worse as some students now procure charms to fight.
“In ijanikin, I think the environment is contributing to the rise in such gang wars. Cultism is also very rampant and the environment where these children live is influencing them negatively. I think the government should opt for stiffer punishments for students involved in such acts. We have lost a life today. Nobody knows what he would have been if he was alive. We cannot also tell whose child it will be next,” he said.
Also lamenting the activities of students in Government Secondary School, Alapere- Ijanikin, a landlord, Kolawole Adebayo who lives at Dorcas Boyo said it was quite unfortunate that young students would engage themselves in all sorts of unwholesome attitude and their activities are getting out of hand.
“Almost every Friday, they attack another with dangerous weapons. Sometime ago, one of the students went into a coma after another student hit him with charm. It took the intervention of a native doctor to revive the victim. The school has become very notorious to the extent that students are openly armed with guns,” he said.
The matter had been transferred from the Ijanikin Police Division to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), Panti, in Yaba for further investigation.
A police source at the SCIID told The Nigerian Xpress that the suspect was arraigned at the Ebute Metta Magistrate’s Court on October 31, for murder.
When contacted for comments, father of the deceased who gave his name simply as Mr Wasiu said his son was not a troublesome boy. He said that the demise of his son was still like a dream.
Asked what he wanted, Mr Wasiu said the case was already in court and that it was for the court to determine the fate of the suspect. “All we want is justice,” he added.
