Ganiyu Gbadebo, father of a 400 Level student of the University of Ibadan allegedly killed by Amotekun corps, tells a Punch Correspondent that he never knew that the local security agency he supported to be created would deal a blow to his family.
What kind of person was Akolade, your deceased son?
He was a very good and responsible son. He was an easygoing person. He talked less and was highly responsible. Apart from being my son, he was also my friend and he related with me like a responsible adult. He would call me and assured me that he would start assisting me to raise his siblings once he started working. But Amotekun has killed my son; they have taken my joy away from me.
How did you learn about his death?
I am based in Ibadan. I sell books and newspapers. They called to tell me that my son had been shot dead. I fainted and I only came back to life when they started pouring water on me and dragging me in the mud to revive me. Apart from members of the family, everybody that heard the news of his killing has been crying since that time. I am just struggling to talk to you because I have been very disturbed since the news was broken to me.
How will you react to the claim by Amotekun that Akolade was an armed robber?
(Sobs) My son was not an armed robber, he was not a cultist. He never stole anything from me. Whenever he was around and I brought money home, the money would be there and he would not take one kobo out of it. They killed him and turned round to say he was an armed robber. They are saying that to cover their atrocity but people who heard their claims have been raining curses on them. My son did not steal anything; he was not a thief, he was not an armed robber or a cult member; they can’t try that with other families that are rich or influential. They thought they could just kill him and nothing would happen but God has raised some persons speaking for the family that the killing should not be swept under the carpet. I don’t know what I did wrong to Amotekun, they just wasted my son’s life. He didn’t do anything.
But Amotekun said your late son fired gunshots at them first and that they found a pistol on him.
My son was not a criminal. He could not kill a chicken. Anytime we celebrated Eid-el-Fitri and we wanted to kill chickens, I would have to ask other alfas to slaughter the chicken because he could not do it. They should ask about him in his neighbourhood; they will find out the type of person he was. They just wasted his life; they have stripped me naked at the end of the year. I don’t have good clothes, I don’t have cars, I have only built a house because of my children. Now they have wasted his life, believing that nothing will happen. He had already completed the National Certificate of Education and I asked him to enrol for his degree programme. I wanted him to stand a better chance of employment and that was why I told him that I would still sponsor his Master’s degree programme after his National Youth Service Corps. I don’t know what I did to Amotekun that is making them to attack my children.
Have they attacked any of your other children?
The Sunday proceeding the Thursday that Kola was killed, Amotekun went to the Kobomoje area in Ibadan and attacked my son, Abdubaki. He is a shoemaker. It was on a Sunday morning and he went inside the house. That was how Amotekun came and hacked him and beat him silly. People rushed out when they started hearing his scream for help but they were in uniform and that was what saved them. They bundled him inside a vehicle and took him to a police station in Idi Aro. The police extorted money from those that went there to seek his bail. It was one man in that house who saw everything that eventually went there and secured his bail. The man is the father of my son’s friend and is a member of the Agbekoya. They injured that my son and he was eventually released after the police had taken a bribe to free him because he did not do anything. I did not hear about this until he told me after his brother, Akolade, was killed by Amotekun. What is my offence against them? Did they establish Amotekun to be hunting my children’s lives?
They are after Habeeb now. One of them was said to be pointing to Habeeb and saying he was the one giving them problem and trying to expose them concerning the killing of his brother. They want to kill him also. I am appealing to Governor Seyi Makinde to save me from Amotekun. They should come and arrest me if they want to kill me, they should leave my children alone.
Even those they claimed to have arrested along with Akolade said they did not know him, they said they were arrested where they were eating and not at the scene where my son was killed. But they (Amotekun) are claiming he was the leader of that robbery gang. I pray the way they have killed Akolade, the same way they would lose their children except he was an armed robber as they claimed. All they have done to me would be done to their children in multiple folds. Even the students (NANS) that went to Oyo to find out what happened were attacked and chased away by Amotekun.
Where is Abdubaki now?
They have released him. Those who secured his bail paid for his treatment. Why am I their target all the time?
How do you want this case resolved?
I want the killer-Amotekun to be exposed and I want justice served in this matter. Also, Akolade left two kids behind. His six-year-old son has been crying since his father was killed. He heard that his father was killed and he even said it was a soldier that killed him. The other one is a girl, one year and four months old. They killed my son and they are working so hard to tarnish the image of my family; it’s so sad. If the commandant of Amotekun doesn’t know what to say, he should keep quiet instead of concocting lies to tarnish my image and my family’s. Amotekun has been telling one lie after the other to cover up since the incident happened. They first said they did not kill him or anybody. After they realised that their lie had been punctured, they said he was killed because he was an armed robber. You can see them now. Truth is constant and they would not have kept changing their claims if they are saying the truth.
The PUNCH