Murder so cruel: How popular Ibadan thug, Auxiliary’s gang killed 36-year-old father of newborn twins

Murder so cruel: How popular Ibadan thug, Auxiliary’s gang killed 36-year-old father of newborn twins BY PUNCH

Thirty-six-year-old Rahmon Azeez was full of life on Wednesday and nothing suggested that death loomed. Saturday PUNCH learnt that he just got a visa to travel to the United States of America to see his wife and twins, who he had never carried physically since they were born abroad. He arranged for his wife to travel to the US where she delivered of the babies. But his hope of reuniting with his wife and children was cut short. Our correspondent gathered that the deceased recently bought a Toyota Camry and drove the car to the Iwo Road Shopping Complex in Ibadan, Oyo State, built by his mother popularly known as Mama Ahmed. However, on getting to the spot, the entrance was said to have been blocked by commercial bus drivers dropping and picking passengers despite the place not designated as a bus stop. He was said to have asked the drivers to leave the entrance to allow customers and visitors to the complex to access the building. But his speech, it was gathered, reportedly resulted in an altercation. The drivers were said to have reported him to the park managers who were accused of swooping on the young man and dealt him blows and slaps. Being a popular person at the complex, his mother’s tenants and phone sellers were said to have rescued him from the hands of the drivers and park managers. Not satisfied, the assailants reportedly left to mobilise and invaded the complex with weapons. Eyewitnesses who spoke with our correspondent said the hoodlums targeted Azeez and hurled stones, sticks and other sharp objects at him before he was stabbed in the chest. One of the shop owners at the complex, Taye Salawu, told our correspondent that Azeez’s assailants made sure that he was dead before leaving. He noted that they later hid under the cover of the melee to loot and vandalise shops in the complex. Salawu said, “Not satisfied with the level of destruction, they looted shops and carted away phones and other electronic devices.’’ The deceased’s mother, brother and the entire family were left heartbroken after the violence and traders counted huge losses. Azeez’s grieving elder brother, Ahmed Azeez, told our correspondent that the leader of the Park Managers, Alhaji Lamidi Mukaila, popularly known as Auxiliary, led armed members who killed his brother at the complex. Asked if he saw Auxiliary at the scene of the attack, Ahmed said, “There is video evidence to back it up and I saw it. My brother was 36 years old. His family resides in the US and he already got a visa to visit them. His wife gave birth to twins. He had not seen the babies since their birth. He planned to see his family but that never happened. We have buried him. I am heartbroken. I can’t talk for long. I don’t know if this is a dream.” Tension was palpable at the complex and from under the bridge to the Abayomi Bus Stop area when our correspondent visited the area on Thursday. Shops were shut and some traders were seen hanging around the area. The area was taken over by the police, Operation Burst, a joint security outfit, including soldiers and Amotekun corps. About 25 patrol vans were stationed there to prevent a further breakdown of law and order in the area. Our correspondent observed that the hoodlums took their time to vandalise the shops. Every glass there was shattered and the floor filled with broken glasses and bottles. Some of the affected traders took our correspondent to the spot where Azeez Rahmon was killed by his attackers. He was said to have got to a dead end where his assailants pursued him and dangerous weapons freely used to attack him. Our correspondent gathered that neighbours, his mother’s tenants at the complex and friends picked his corpse later and enraged youths took his corpse to the Governor’s Office at State Secretariat, Agodi, to protest the killing.