Jungle justice: How Kwara graduate died over bike fare

Moshood Mayowa Sulyman, a 32-year-old graduate, who initially took to farming before he found himself in the shawarma business, was killed in a controversial circumstance penultimate Sunday in Kwara State. Daily Trust on Sunday writes on what led to the jungle justice that led to his death.

July 30, 2023 was a sad day in the household of the Sulymans following the death of one of their sons, Moshood Mayowa in controversial circumstances.

The family was yet to recover from the incident more than one week after Daily Trust on Sunday visited their residence located at Ogunshola Street, off Asa Dam Road, Ilọrin West Local Government Area of the state.

His bereaved mother was still under medication from the shock of the development to allow her to get some rest and sleep.

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The household and sympathisers devastated by the tragic occurrence were still discussing the situation.

Moshood’s journey to the land of no return started after an ill fated trip from one of their restaurants at Unity Road, Ilọrin to another franchise at Fate to deliver gas for the preparation of their business on Monday.

He has since been buried according to Islamic injunction at the Muslim cemetery, Osere, amidst tears.

Their mother runs the food business named Oyindamola, after one of her daughters.

A motorist who witnessed the incident said, “I have not seen such behaviour in my entire life except in films.

“They were beating him and some climbed on him with their motorcycles. It was really a terrible sight. Such action was overboard, irrespective of the offence he must have been accused of.

“A vehicle was in front of me and I saw over 50 okada riders clustered. It was on a Sunday, so the area was almost deserted, except for few shops and one filling station that opened for business.”

Narrating the incident to our correspondent, a sister to the deceased, Oyindamola, said she was invited to the scene by a friend.

“I was the one that went to the scene after I got a call that he was being beaten at the front of Total filling station. His white sweatshirt had already turned red from bloodstains by the time I got there.

“He left our Unity Shop around 12:30pm with a cylinder to buy gas. They called my mum before calling me and we thought it was just an argument. One of our sales girls was there earlier. When I got there, people were already doing videos of him.

“Commercial motorcycles were more than 50. While I was trying to carry him, one of them rode a bike on his leg. I was stopping vehicles to help carry him to the hospital but to no avail,” she narrated.

Oyindamola said it was through the help of the operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) that passed through the area coincidentally and stopped at the scene that dispersed the mob and helped in conveying him to a hospital.

“It was when they saw the NSCDC operatives that they all ran away to Works roundabout and to Maraba area,” she added.

She also said NSCDC operatives later followed them to Ilọrin General Hospital and witnessed some efforts to revive him but returned to the scene and arrested three motorcycle operators.

“At the Ilọrin General Hospital, his blood was just 17 per cent and had turned black. The nurses suspected that he had internal injury/bleeding from the action of the mob because there was no open injury in his body. They said he needed to be admitted in an intensive care unit, which is not available yet, so they had to refer him.

“I called my brother who is a doctor to inform him about the situation and he was making arrangements to get an ambulance to take him to Crescent Hospital at Tanke when we were informed that he had died.

“When we got there, some of the people that narrated the incident said my brother had a disagreement with a Hausa okada rider over fare.

“The bike man requested for N1,500 but Moshood gave him N300 and went inside to drop the cylinder, only to come out and meet the man still waiting. However, while they were arguing, the okada man brought out a knife and he (Moshood) started to run but was pursued and overpowered by his colleagues, who had gathered at the scene. They descended on him with all kinds of objects,” she narrated.

Oyindamola said the way the NSCDC was handling the case necessitated the demand for it to be transferred to the police and “They requested the sum of N20,000, which we paid.

“We want justice; that is what the family is after now. This should not be swept under the carpet for any reason whatsoever,” she submitted.

Oyindamola’s brother, who is a medical doctor and also involved in the case, Dr Sulyman Tosin Hafeez, corroborated the family’s narrative of the incident.

He said, “We were informed that there was a misunderstanding and the bike men called for reinforcement. Being the only one, he (Moshood) made an attempt to run to save his life but he was shouted at and labeled a thief. Other okada men blocked him and started to beat him.

“He was mobbed by the okada riders but I don’t know why those who were passing, riding or driving by did not stop to rescue him. The fact is that he was wrongly accused and the people decided to tolerate jungle justice.”

On what is next for the family, Dr Tosin said, “We have taken it as the will of Allah and left everything in his hands. The Nigerian government should do the needful because every life is important.

“At this point, we are actually wasting our resources and it is not moving anywhere. It is even bringing trauma because everyday since the incident happened, we go to the police station. We have been to the NSCDC, police headquarters, and now, the police division at Tanke. We have not been able to move on with our lives.

“The family is ready to step aside and allow the police to do the needful. So far, they have been requesting for our presence in every step of the way, which means that we are the ones funding the process conveying the suspects, funding our movements from home in this period and I have not been able to go to work. There is a limit to what we can do; and in fact, at this point, we are ready to tell the police to do what they think is necessary.

“If those people are not guilty they should let them go. If they are able to find those responsible, all well and good; if not, we are not willing to allow the three suspects to be subject to any punishment if eventually they are innocent. That is where we are now. Honestly speaking, we will not be able to go further,” he said.

But a resident of Fate (name withheld) and a close family friend who witnessed the scene told Daily Trust on Sunday what transpired.

He said, “I was there when they started the argument. It was the deceased that was stopping other motorcyclists and explaining to them. He had stopped five of them.

“The okada that brought him said he wanted to collect his machine from him, that they had visited many other places and he wanted to pay him N300 instead of the N1,500 he requested, but the deceased insisted that he would not pay.

“It was the deceased who went inside the house at the back of their restaurant, where he was also staying and brought out a cutlass, which angered the bike men and that led to their fight.

“By this time, other bike men had stopped their colleagues and they started beating him. He started running on the road to the Ministry of Works roundabout. Initially, they didn’t chase him, but I don’t know when they pursued him to the front of Total filling station. They were communicating in Yoruba, not Hausa. Instead of him running back into the house, he headed towards the roundabout. That was all I saw of them. I don’t know what later happened until the next day when I learnt that he died.”

When Daily Trust on Sunday visited the chairman of motorcycle operators in Kwara State, Alhaji Abdulazeez Yakub Tinuola, in his office at Agbo Oba, he said he was leaving for an emergency meeting. He, however, told the secretary to speak on the issue.

The secretary, who did not want his name in print said, “Yes, we are aware of the case and we have met with the family. The government has also shown interest in the need to have the real culprits apprehended and prosecuted, which we are also disposed to.

“We are still in talks with the family of the deceased. What is paramount is that we are ready to work with the police officers at the State Investigation Bureau (SIB) to get the culprits and bring them to justice, especially after the family had expressed readiness to discontinue with pressing charges on those arrested for now.”

When contacted, the spokesman of the NSCDC, Ayeni Olasunkanmi, who confirmed the incident, said the police had “taken over the case and were in the best position to react.”

The police public relations officer, SP Ajayi Okasanmi, told Daily Trust on Sunday that the matter was yet to be brought to his table.

“That case has not been brought to my attention, but I will find out and get back to you,” he said. He was, however, yet to do so before this report was filed.