Hotelier, wife murdered in Ogun

Olumide Akanji

Daredevil gunmen have allegedly assassinated an hotelier, Kehinde Ibidunni and his wife, Elizabeth, in a brutal attack at Atan - Ota in Ado - Odo/Ota Local Government Area of Ogun State.

The 63 - year old man and the wife, 54, were reportedly shot dead by the gunmen who broke into their residence at Atan - Ota in the early hours of Tuesday.

Our Correspondent gathered that assailants had stormed the couple's residence at No 15 Tella Ojo Crescent, Atan - Ota, around 3pm, forcing their way into the house through a burglary proof with the noise attracting the attention of a little girl living with them.

The little girl, it was further gathered, had immediately rushed to inform the hotelier of the development in his room, but when the man showed up to inquire about the "strange visitors," he was reportedly shot in the heart and died on the spot.

Our correspondent learnt that the hoodlums later gained entrance into the building, got hold of the wife, beat her before she was finally shot dead.

Olayinka, son of the deceased  who spoke with journalists said it was a case of 'assassination'. He said his parents were murdered barely a month after the duo attended his wedding in Abuja.

Narrating the incident, he said "They (couple) stayed alone in the house. They have a little girl staying with them in the house for support. At about 3am on April 27,  the girl heard some people trying to gain access in to the house through the burglary proof. She immediately stood up, went to my dad's room, and called him that some people were trying to gain entrance.

"When my dad showed up to ask about the people, they shot him in the heart straight up. So, he died instantly. After they killed him, they gained access into the house. They went into the room, they met my mum, they beat her, they stabbed her and finally they shot her. They killed the two of them and after that, they scattered the whole house, they took the little money they could lay their hands on and they left."

When asked if it was a case of armed robbery or assassination, he responded "From what we know and what the police are saying, it is a case of assassination. We can't tell what type of robbery that led to killing husband and wife. I think it is an assassination case."

 According to him, the police have taken the corpses to the morgue, but arrest has been made in connection with the crime.

"The police were around all through, they were even the one who took the corpse to the morgue. They told us that they have not laid their hands on any concrete evidence, but they are still trying to interview some people. We were even at the station as at yesterday (Tuesday)," Olayinka added.

Olayinka while describing his parents as "peaceful and loving," hinted that the family has concluded arrangement to bury the couple on Friday.

When contacted, the State Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi did not pick up several calls from our correspondent. He has equally not responded to the text messages sent to his mobile phone, as of the time of filing this report.