North American University Student Killed by Cultists in Lagos

                                            

A 26-year-old student, Adeolu Otenaike, of the North American University in Cotonou, Republic of Benin, has been murdered in Lagos.


Adeolu was allegedly killed by suspected cultists in Surulere area of the state on March 20.

The victim, a 400 level student, was said to have visited Nigeria in company with five classmates from the university on March 18.

They were said to have come to “wash” Otenaike’s new car.
 
But their adventure ended in the killing of Otenaike.

                                                  

Late Adeolu Otenaike

 

It was gathered that Otenaike and his friends had earlier that day visited the Arena Restaurant along Ikorodu Road and later drove to the Empire Bar at Surulere, where a gang of cultists allegedly murdered him.

According to Ladi Bada, one of Otenaike’s friends who was with him the night he was killed: “When we got to Empire Bar, Adeolu was accosted by one Taiye, also known as Sogbe, a cultist.
“Two years ago, he had a quarrel with Adeolu.

“That was how Sogbe grabbed Adeolu while other cultists with Taiye – Bayano, Kaka, Small bobo, Igimuand and others – beat Adeolu and his friends mercilessly.
“The cultists robbed them of money and phones.

“One Alowonle, the chairman of the Tricycle Riders Association at the Empire area, told Taiye and his members not to kill Adeolu at the spot but that they should take him outside where he was shot both on the head and neck.

“Chinedu, another of the victim, was seriously wounded but managed to escape.

“The incident happened at about 12 midnight and immediately someone called the Divisional Police Officer at the Alakara Division and the police recovered  expended bullets.”

It was also gathered that on the day Otenaike was murdered, five other young men were murdered in a similar manner at different locations in Mushin area of the state.

The killings were reported at the Alakara Police Station, Mushin.

In a related development, it was gathered that on March 23 at about 1am, some rampaging cultists shot sporadically along the railway line.

One of the bullets hit a young man of Igbo extraction, popularly known as Double, inside the container he was sleeping close to Daniel Street, Mushin.

The victim is said to be recuperating at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba.
Residents of Mushin have expressed worry over the increasing cases of cultism and murder and want the police to halt the trend.

Otenaike’s family laid him to rest at the Matori Cemetery on March 22.

The deceased’s family members however said they buried him amid threat of death from a particular mobile phone number, with the caller warning them not to interr him.