killed during a People's Democratic Party rally in Lagos.
According to relatives of the deceased, Adeboye was shot in the leg on
Monday last week during a local government tour by a PDP governorship
aspirant, Mr. Jimi Agbaje, in the Mushin area of the state.
Although police sources told our correspondent that details
surrounding Adeboye's murder were sketchy, relatives of the victim
accused the PDP supporters of perpetrating the dastardly act.
However, a source in the PDP told our correspondent that Adeboye was
shot by some thugs who invaded the gathering.
An aunt to the deceased, Mrs. Shade Afolabi, told our correspondent on
the telephone that Adeboye had a wife and three children.
She said on the day of the incident, Adeboye was called by his boss,
Mr. Kunle Oduyale, aka Osha, to go and convey some PDP party members
said to be Agbaje's supporters from the Lagos end of the old toll gate
opposite Motorways Plaza at about 6am to a political rally being held
by Agbaje in Epe.
She said under instruction from a leader of the federal task force,
her nephew was told to convey some supporters of Agbaje to Mushin but
he was shot in the process and his corpse was dumped around the old
toll gate.
She said, "When he was called, they said the rally would take place in
Epe but I don't know why it was held in Mushin.
Later in the evening, his blood-stained bus was spotted at the toll
gate and he (Adeboye) laid in a pool of blood beside the bus close to
FERMA yard.
"The supporters are claiming that he was shot in Mushin but I don't
understand why someone who was shot in Mushin would be taken to Ketu
for treatment where he finally died. They are not being truthful about
the incident. It is even unfortunate that no one from the PDP has
deemed it fit to visit the family or even his (Adeboye's) mother."
In a petition sent to our correspondent, the Executive Director,
Centre for Rights and Grassroots Initiative, Mr. Nelson Ekujumi, said
there was a deliberate attempt by the perpetrators to cover up the
act.
He said the matter was reported at the Ketu Police Division and later
transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Yaba.
Ekujumi said, "From our findings, it was discovered that Adeboye had a
bullet wound on his thigh, we also found out that the bus which
Adeboye drove was blood stained and which necessitated the family
prevailing on the police at Ketu Division to impound the bus in
question.
"We also suspected that Adeboye might have been shot at the PDP rally
in Epe, but was kept in the bus to die from his injury by those he
took to Epe with the sole intention of covering up this crime and
thereafter dumped his body close to the Lagos end of the old toll gate
to make it look like he had an accident at the spot where he was
found."
However, the Jimi Agbaje Organisation denied employing the deceased
driver. The organisation in a statement said none of the vehicles
in Agbaje's entourage was a commercial bus. The organisation described
the allegations against Agbaje as baseless, saying the organisation
could not be held responsible for what happens among motley groups at
its rallies.
The statement read in part, "Not only are these insinuations
far-fetched, they are totally false, mischievous, absurd and
unwarranted. They smack of a deliberate and desperate attempt to soil
the good image of our organisation, our supporters and our principal.
"In fact, the Jimi Agbaje organisation never hired the services of
commercial transporters for its tours, spanning the 20 local
government areas of Lagos State.
"Even if the dead driver cannot now corroborate this fact, his
'master' remains a living witness."
When contacted on the telephone, the Police Public Relations Officer,
Ngozi Braide, said, "According to the friends of the deceased, there
was a meeting in Mushin and he was shot. He gave up the ghost on their
way home. The friends are assisting the police with the investigation.
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