TRAGEDY AS BUSINESS MAN IS ALLEGEDLY BEATEN TO DEATH BY VIGILANTE AND LANDLORD

       One member of the Vigilante Service of Ogun State (VSO), Ismaila Jimoh (aka Bintin) and a landlord Hassan Olatunde, have been arrested in connection with the death of a 28-year-old businessman,Tayo Olatunbosun.Jimoh and Olatunde were said to have apprehended Olatunbosun in the Adiyan area of Ogun State on Saturday for allegedly stealing a hairdryer.

        News making rounds and which reached our MAYEGBA boss who coincidentally was in the community which is widely believed by some who claimed to be around the same vicinity when the issue happened say,Olatunbosun who was at a party with some friends,had some very funny mixed substance to drink containing alcohol and more which made him sleepy,so he unconsciously took refuge in front of a shop in the residence of the second accused person,Hassan Olatunde,the landlord.

       Olatunbosun was spotted there and the landlord raised an alarm calling him a a thief,he was harassed  and the vigilante operative Bintin who doubles as a commercial motorcyclist arrived and allegedly joined in torturing the suspect.

They reportedly beat the businessman with charms and later took him to the Agbado Police Station around 10pm.

It was gathered that the police released Olatunbosun on bail. He was subsequently admitted to a hospital in the community, where he gave up the ghost on Sunday.In the wake of the death, angry youths, who claimed the victim was returning from a party when he was arrested,took to the street and vandalised the VSO office.

The mob also reportedly set four motorcycles ablaze.

Our correspondent learnt that a combined team of operatives of the Agbado division and the Area Command, Sango, were deployed to the area to restore peace.

A resident, Bashiru Irewole, said residents were pained by Olatunbosun’s death, urging the state government to curtail the excesses of the vigilante group.

He said, “Contrary to the stealing allegation, the man was returning from a party when members of the VSO stopped him. They seriously tortured him which led to his death yesterday (Sunday) in the afternoon. He traded in accessories such as phones and laptops. He was not a thief. They just wasted his life".

“His friends attacked the VSO office in Adiyan,destroying it before burning a motorcycle in front of the office,then they moved to the Olomowewe area in Adiyan,where they burnt three more motorcycles parked by the roadside.There was confusion everywhere.

“Through the intervention of the police, the situation was brought under control on Sunday evening. Policemen have been patrolling the community.”

Another resident,who did not want his name in print,said there might have been a disagreement between Olatunbosun and the vigilantes prior to the incident.

“Those that killed him must be brought to book. I don’t think they beat him because he stole the dryer or not.
“They probably had a disagreement with him before now and they decided to deal with him.They beat him with charms and later took him to the station,” he said.

MAYEGBA crew gathered that the two were later arrested by the Agbado division.

A police source said the hairdryer purportedly recovered from Olatunbosun was taken to the station.

“By the time the men brought him to the station with the dryer, he had been seriously injured.
“He was released to go and treat himself in the hospital where he later died” the source added.

The Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Abimbola Oyeyemi, said the suspects were being investigated for murder and would be charged to court afterwards.

“The two men in question are in custody. The Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Iliyasu, has ordered that they should be transferred to the Homicide Section of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department for proper investigation. Even if he was caught stealing,that does not mean he should be killed,” he added.