How Fulani herdsmen murdered my son in cold blood –Father of slain corps member
BY ’TUNDE THOMAS
Although the tragic incident occurred about two months ago, sympathizers, however, continue to troop to the house of Mr Samuel Ogunlusi located on Arowolo Street, Abule-Egba, Lagos.
For the 61-year-old newspaper distributor, life can never be the same again since he lost his 25-year-old son to an attack allegedly carried out by some Fulani herdsmen who were reported to be on a revenge mission in a neighbourhood along Ring road in Jos, Plateau State in the evening of last Saturday of August this year.
Narrating his ordeal to Saturday Sun amid tears, Ogunlusi said that his son, Samuel, a graduate of Sociology from University of Jos, was observing his mandatory one-year service for National Youths Service Corps members in Uyo, capital of Akwa Ibom State, when the management of NYSC in the state reportedly asked him to produce a document which necessitated his trip back to Jos to obtain the document from his school.
Ogunlusi further revealed that the young man had arrived Jos safely and was supposed to pick the document before tragedy struck that fateful night.
“Before he left Akwa Ibom, he put a call across to me, telling me about his trip to Jos. I later asked him whether it was not possible for any of his friends at the university to pick the document for him, and later mail it to him, but he told me that it was something he had to do personally. It was as if I had a premonition. If Samuel had not undertaken this trip, he would have been alive today,” he lamented.
On how the news was broken to him, Ogunlusi said it was one of Samuel’s friends that used his phone to call him, adding that he almost passed out when he heard the tragic news.
“It was the grace of God that sustained me when the news was broken to me. I almost passed out when I was receiving the call. His friend, who identified himself as Jude, told me that all of them were set to eat their supper when these men came. Jude claimed that it was as if the men whom he described as looking like Fulani herdsmen were on a rampage in the neighbourhood. The young man added that these rampaging men just opened fire on them and in the process killed my son and one other young man before they vanished into the dark night. And since then, we don’t have any trace of my son’s killers.”
Asked what he did when he received the news, Ogunlusi said he took it in his stride and later informed other members of his family. A meeting, according to him, was thereafter held where one of his younger brothers was mandated to go to Jos to find out what actually happened.
While saying that it was during his brother’s trip to Jos that it was confirmed that the gunmen from the way they talked that night appeared to be on a vengeance mission, the distraught 61-year-old said: “Eyewitnesses that my junior brother met confirmed that the gunmen deliberately opened fire on my son and his friends. Even this was confirmed during his visit to the police station, but up till now police have not found the killers. But the spirit of my son is calling for justice – I see him in my dream everyday asking that his killers be brought to justice. I’m appealing to the Inspector- General of Police and President Muhammadu Buhari to fish out the killers. I’m tired of seeing my son in my dream everyday calling for justice.”
Ogunlusi wants the management of the NYSC in Akwa Ibom State, and the authorities of the University of Jos to assist him in his quest for justice.
“My son died while serving his fatherland. His death should not be in vain – I want both the NYSC and University of Jos to help me get justice. I suffered a lot over Segun. His mother left me when he was three years old – I singlehandedly brought him up and that is why we were very close. I’m missing him everyday – I can no longer concentrate on anything I’m doing – life has remained meaningless to me since his demise.”
Asked if he has formally reported Segun’s death to NYSC Secretariat, Ogunlusi replied: “I sent family representatives to Uyo, but for over a month now, I have not heard a word from the NYSC and authorities of the University of Jos. My expectation was that the two institutions would have officially sent letters of condolence or delegations to console me and my family over Segun’s loss.”
Urging both federal and state governments to do something about insecurity, Ogunlusi said: “Insecurity in Nigeria should be quickly addressed. The rate of killings of innocent people has become worrisome. Imagine my own agony today, a child that I had been training for over 20 years wasted just like that. I don’t pray that any parent should go through what I’m passing through. My other children and family members have been trying their best to console me but I have remained unconsolable. My peace can only be restored when killers of my son are found and brought to justice.”
Ogunlusi, who expressed his determination to pursue his son’s case to a logical conclusion, however, expressed fears that his aim might be handicapped by financial factor.
According to him: “The police authorities in Jos told me that they would work hard to unravel the killers but my intention is to ensure that I’m not far away from Jos. I will like to be going there at least once or twice in a month, but the distance and the financial factors might be a barrier – this is why I’m once again appealing to the Inspector General of Police, Mr Solomon Arase, to ensure that the police authorities in Jos don’t abandon their investigations into the murder.”
[SunNews]
Although the tragic incident occurred about two months ago, sympathizers, however, continue to troop to the house of Mr Samuel Ogunlusi located on Arowolo Street, Abule-Egba, Lagos.
For the 61-year-old newspaper distributor, life can never be the same again since he lost his 25-year-old son to an attack allegedly carried out by some Fulani herdsmen who were reported to be on a revenge mission in a neighbourhood along Ring road in Jos, Plateau State in the evening of last Saturday of August this year.
Narrating his ordeal to Saturday Sun amid tears, Ogunlusi said that his son, Samuel, a graduate of Sociology from University of Jos, was observing his mandatory one-year service for National Youths Service Corps members in Uyo, capital of Akwa Ibom State, when the management of NYSC in the state reportedly asked him to produce a document which necessitated his trip back to Jos to obtain the document from his school.
Ogunlusi further revealed that the young man had arrived Jos safely and was supposed to pick the document before tragedy struck that fateful night.
“Before he left Akwa Ibom, he put a call across to me, telling me about his trip to Jos. I later asked him whether it was not possible for any of his friends at the university to pick the document for him, and later mail it to him, but he told me that it was something he had to do personally. It was as if I had a premonition. If Samuel had not undertaken this trip, he would have been alive today,” he lamented.
On how the news was broken to him, Ogunlusi said it was one of Samuel’s friends that used his phone to call him, adding that he almost passed out when he heard the tragic news.
“It was the grace of God that sustained me when the news was broken to me. I almost passed out when I was receiving the call. His friend, who identified himself as Jude, told me that all of them were set to eat their supper when these men came. Jude claimed that it was as if the men whom he described as looking like Fulani herdsmen were on a rampage in the neighbourhood. The young man added that these rampaging men just opened fire on them and in the process killed my son and one other young man before they vanished into the dark night. And since then, we don’t have any trace of my son’s killers.”
Asked what he did when he received the news, Ogunlusi said he took it in his stride and later informed other members of his family. A meeting, according to him, was thereafter held where one of his younger brothers was mandated to go to Jos to find out what actually happened.
While saying that it was during his brother’s trip to Jos that it was confirmed that the gunmen from the way they talked that night appeared to be on a vengeance mission, the distraught 61-year-old said: “Eyewitnesses that my junior brother met confirmed that the gunmen deliberately opened fire on my son and his friends. Even this was confirmed during his visit to the police station, but up till now police have not found the killers. But the spirit of my son is calling for justice – I see him in my dream everyday asking that his killers be brought to justice. I’m appealing to the Inspector- General of Police and President Muhammadu Buhari to fish out the killers. I’m tired of seeing my son in my dream everyday calling for justice.”
Ogunlusi wants the management of the NYSC in Akwa Ibom State, and the authorities of the University of Jos to assist him in his quest for justice.
“My son died while serving his fatherland. His death should not be in vain – I want both the NYSC and University of Jos to help me get justice. I suffered a lot over Segun. His mother left me when he was three years old – I singlehandedly brought him up and that is why we were very close. I’m missing him everyday – I can no longer concentrate on anything I’m doing – life has remained meaningless to me since his demise.”
Asked if he has formally reported Segun’s death to NYSC Secretariat, Ogunlusi replied: “I sent family representatives to Uyo, but for over a month now, I have not heard a word from the NYSC and authorities of the University of Jos. My expectation was that the two institutions would have officially sent letters of condolence or delegations to console me and my family over Segun’s loss.”
Urging both federal and state governments to do something about insecurity, Ogunlusi said: “Insecurity in Nigeria should be quickly addressed. The rate of killings of innocent people has become worrisome. Imagine my own agony today, a child that I had been training for over 20 years wasted just like that. I don’t pray that any parent should go through what I’m passing through. My other children and family members have been trying their best to console me but I have remained unconsolable. My peace can only be restored when killers of my son are found and brought to justice.”
Ogunlusi, who expressed his determination to pursue his son’s case to a logical conclusion, however, expressed fears that his aim might be handicapped by financial factor.
According to him: “The police authorities in Jos told me that they would work hard to unravel the killers but my intention is to ensure that I’m not far away from Jos. I will like to be going there at least once or twice in a month, but the distance and the financial factors might be a barrier – this is why I’m once again appealing to the Inspector General of Police, Mr Solomon Arase, to ensure that the police authorities in Jos don’t abandon their investigations into the murder.”
[SunNews]
Comments
Post a Comment