Residents of Agba Dam in Ilorin West Local Government Area of Kwara State woke up to a gory scene on Thursday when a mobile police officer shot his lover dead before killing himself on the premises of a nursery school. Daily Trust on Sunday writes on the tragedy which has gone viral on social media platforms.
On Thursday, March 2, 2023, the Redemption Model Nursery and Primary School, Agba Dam, Ilorin, located inside the Chapel of Redemption UMCA, attracted national limelight following the murder of a mother of one, Bamidele Cecilia Oluwatosin, inside the school premises.
The deceased, said to be a cleaner at the Banquet Hall opposite the Government House, was the mother of Desmond, a pupil of the school who will be celebrating his third birthday on May 12, 2023.
Traumatized Samuel Ayeni, the head teacher of Redemption Model Nursery and Primary School only said Cecilia Oluwatosin has a “two-year-old son in the school whom she usually drops off during week days.”
He declined any further comment on the matter after several visits to the facility asking our correspondent to seek answers with the police who is already investigating the matter.
Daily Trust on Sunday gathered that some of the parents refused to allow their children attend school on Friday because of the incident which caused panic around the area.
Oluwatosin was killed at about 8am by one Sergeant Michael Olalere, 40, a Mobile Police Officer (MOPOL) attached to 15 PMF, Oyun area, Ilorin who also shot himself in the process.
According to residents and shop owners around the school who spoke to our correspondent, the deceased mobile police officer trailed his lover to the school premises and waited for her to come before opening fire on her at close range.
Some of them were astonished as to why “A young and promising guy like this will kill himself because of a side chic, without considering what his beautiful family will face.”
“The officer was dressed in a camouflage police uniform. He entered the school premises at about a few minutes before 8am in his Toyota Corolla car earlier than his female friend who had brought her son to the school later.
“Immediately she walked him, he brought out his AK-47 rifle and shot Oluwatosin on the chest three times at close range and she died on the spot.
“He thereafter shot himself on the throat which blew off some part of his head and the two of them were there in a pool of blood before the police came to evacuate their bodies about one hour later. It was really a gory scene”, a resident, Mr Olaleye Arodeyo, told our correspondent.
The police after the shocking incident, denied it was a case of police brutality but rather that of “love gone sour” between the former lovebirds.
Daily Trust on Sunday gathered that the late 40-year-old officer with force number F/NO 497093 was attached to one of the aides of the Kwara State Governor but recently left the position.
Sources told our correspondent that it was while serving at the Government House that he met Oluwatosin.
Several visits that lasted two days by our correspondent to the family house of the deceased female lover located at Erin Ile Road, Gaa Akanbi, Ilorin, to speak with her elder sister was not successful. She pleaded for more time to allow her overcome the emotional trauma as a result of the incident.
But residents who spoke on the issue said they have been dating for a while but trouble started when the late Oluwatosin said she was no longer interested in the relationship.
“What we understand is that Oluwatosin had a fiancé abroad whom she had a son for, and who was preparing to come to Nigeria having left for Dublin about a year ago.
“Because of that, she wanted to end the affair which triggered their frosty relationship and their fatal end,” one of the residents, Mrs Hannah, said.
Unconfirmed reports said Olalere had told some of his colleagues on the day of the incident that he was going to kill somebody and also kill himself.
“But many of them didn’t believe him because he was doing very well as a police officer. He had two houses, one in Iloffa and Omu-Aran, Oke-Ero and Irepodun local government areas of the state. Here in Ilorin, he was staying in the Barrack and had a very beautiful wife and two daughters,” a police source said.
Daily Trust on Sunday further gathered that the late Olalere had tried severally to convince Oluwatosin to rescind her decision to end the relationship but to no avail.
Residents said he had visited the family house of the deceased female friend a few days before where he allegedly made away with some electronics and other items he was said to have bought for her.
“This was at the height of his frustration over the situation. But Olalere was very much in love with her and I believe that was why he killed her and shot himself,” Mr Bello, another resident of the area, said.
A female provision seller in the area who simple identified herself as Mrs Benedicta said “Most times, when the man (Olalere) is around, they used to come to my shop to buy things. I never knew he was a police officer because he doesn’t wear his uniform and seldom comes down from the car.
“But from their disposition, you could see that he truly loves her. This is very sad. Oluwatosin should be in her 30s and a very beautiful woman. It was after the incident we learnt that she had a fiancé abroad who was coming to Nigeria,” she added.
According to the spokesman of the police command, Ajayi Okasanmi, their corpses have been deposited at the morgue of the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH).
Asked how far the police had gone with investigation, Okasanmi told Daily Trust on Sunday that they were still investigating.
“What we can establish now is that the two of them were lovers but at a point, they had a misunderstanding which led to the mobile police officer trailing her to the school, shot her and also killed himself in the process. It has nothing to do with police brutality.
“But the Commissioner of Police, Paul Odama, has ordered investigation of this unfortunate incident. No arrest has been made yet. But I can assure you that the report of the investigation will be made public as soon as it is ready,” Okasanmi added.
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