Armed Robbers Kill UNILAG Student Following Phone Theft

A student of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), identified simply as Adekunle, was on Saturday shot dead by armed robbers at Harvey Road, Moore Road Junction, in the Yaba area of the state.

The Punch reports that Adekunle and a fellow undergraduate, Opeyemi were on a shuttle bus travelling from Yaba to UNILAG when Opeyemi was robbed of her iPhone 7 Plus by a man who was hanging over the back of the bus.

As a result of Opeyemi's distress, she called the police, and Adekunle chased after the thief after he jumped off the bus and ran away with the phone.

It was discovered that one of the thugs believed to be working with the fleeing suspect suddenly materialized and shot the 23-year-old as he realised Adekunle was drawing near the suspect.

An eyewitness who spoke with Punch's correspondent in anonymity on Monday for security concerns claimed that the robber's accomplice shot Adekunle in the head and that the student died immediately.

“The incident happened on June 3 around 9 pm. What happened was that someone shot the deceased at a close range on the left side of his head and he died on the spot. An ATM card found on him bears the name Adekunle.

“Later on, we gathered from a girl that gave her name as Opeyemi, who claimed to be a student of Business Administration, UNILAG, that she and the deceased, whom she knew as a student of UNILAG, boarded a shuttle bus from Yaba and were heading to UNILAG when she got dispossessed of her iPhone 7 Plus by a thief hanging at the back of the bus.

“She said the deceased attempted to help by pursuing the robber but in the process, another group of persons came out and one of them shot him at a close range on the left side of his head and he died on the spot.”

Adekunle was depicted in a picture where he was lying still on the crime scene's floor while wearing a black top and pants.

 According to the report, after police arrived on the scene, they moved Adekunle's body and placed it in the Mainland Hospital mortuary.

When contacted, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, the state police Public Relations Officer, stated that the command had launched an investigation to identify the suspects.

“The deceased was a UNILAG student. The suspects are being trailed for possible arrest and the command has contacted the victim’s relatives. The case has been transferred to the SCID, Panti, for discreet investigation,” he said.

The spokesperson for UNILAG, Adejoke Alaga-Ibrahim, however, said:  “I do not give reactions over the phone; I will like you to make a formal request; you could send an email to the [email protected], or you could come over to the university so that you can speak with the Dean of Students Affairs.”