Lagos hoodlum shoots lady dead on election day, flees

A hoodlum, identified simply as Adedeji, aka Skye, has allegedly shot a lady, Halimat Abowaba, to death on Abeokuta Street, behind the Agege Stadium, in the Agege Local Government Area of Lagos State.

PUNCH Metro gathered that Adedeji, alongside other hoodlums, were celebrating the victory of a political party on Abeokuta Street when he suddenly brought out a gun and started shooting indiscriminately.

In the process, one of the stray bullets reportedly hit Abowaba, who was in front of her mother’s drinking joint on Abeokuta Street.

A resident, Gbenga Samuel, while lamenting the incident, said one of the bullets from Adedeji’s gun hit one of Abowaba’s laps, adding that neighbours and family members rushed her to the Ifako Ijaiye Teaching Hospital in a desperate bid to save her life.

Upon getting to the hospital, Samuel said medical workers, after assessing the degree of the injury sustained, referred her to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital.

He, however, said the 27-year-old lady bled to death.

Samuel said, “One of the political thugs in Agege named Adedeji, aka Skye, while celebrating the victory of his party on election day, started shooting indiscriminately and one of the stray bullets hit a lady, Halimat Abowaba, in her lap.

“Adedeji was drunk when he started shooting. The incident happened around 6pm and the lady was rushed to the Ifako Ijaiye Teaching Hospital, when they got there, she was referred to the LASUTH but the lady died in the early hours of Sunday. Halimat died because she lost a lot of blood. The bullet shattered her lap.

“Her mother runs a beer parlour. I am speaking out because in cases like this, politicians will do everything to sweep it under the carpet, especially because this is an election period. I am not sure the family reported the matter to the police.”

Explaining further, Samuel said Adedeji had gone into hiding after perpetrating the crime, adding that Abowaba’s family, who initially wanted justice for her, had accepted the events that led to her death as the will of God.

He added, “Adedeji has been on the run; the incident that claimed the life of the lady happened around 6pm and a lot of people witnessed it. Adedeji was the only armed person among all those political thugs celebrating the victory of the party on the day of the presidential and National Assembly elections on Saturday.

“People alongside the victim’s mother shouted that political thugs killed Halimat. I learnt that the victim’s family members wanted justice and were willing to take up the matter but later on, we started hearing that they are no longer going ahead with the case.”

Contacted, Abowaba’s sister, Aisha, who said she was not at home at the time she was shot, explained that when she returned, she met her family members crying over her sister’s death.

Aisha, who was unwilling to give an account of the events that claimed her sister’s life because she was not around when the incident happened and because she was still mourning, handed the phone to their mother.

In a sorrowful tone, the bereaved mother said she had accepted her daughter’s death as the will of God, adding that no matter what she did, it could not bring her dead daughter.

“Please, we don’t have anything to do or say. It is God that will judge them. All the explanations you want me to narrate cannot bring back my dead daughter. Whatever we do, it cannot bring Halima back. I leave everything to God,” he said.

Contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, said he would get back to our correspondent but had yet to do so as of the time this report was filed.

PUNCH Metro gathered that during the presidential and National Assembly elections in the state, hoodlums suspected to be sponsored disrupted election activities at Eti-Osa, Ejigbo, Oshodi, and Surulere, among other areas in the state.

While some of the hoodlums reportedly snatched ballot boxes, some others intimidated the electorate who turned out at their respective polling units to cast their votes for their preferred candidates.