Mr Ifeanyi Chukwu has narrated how a
security guard, simply identified as Godspower, has attempted to shoot him to
death during a quarrel at the VON Estate, Mowe, Ogun State.
The victim, who spoke from his hospital
bed at the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi, Lagos, said that his troubles
started after he had a quarrel with his landlady, Mrs Aina, over his use of
generator in the compound and payment of his rent.
Chukwu, who cried and writhe in agony throughout
his chat with our correspondent, believed that his strained relationship with
his landlady, made the woman to poison the minds of the security guards in the
estate against, including Godspower, leading to the latter shooting him during
an altercation.
Chukwu explained that he became a tenant
of Aina in Von Estate in Mowe, Ogun State in April 18, 2018. He noted that two
months after he rented the apartment, he started witnessing terror in the hands
of his landlady.
The victim, whose right leg was in
bandage, following the bullet wound he sustained after Godspower shot him,
grimaced in pains, sniffed and narrated his story.
He said that Aina had a penchant for
complaining about everything. He maintained that the woman didn’t allow him to
have a moment of peace in the house.
Chukwu said that even though he didn’t
know his offence, he had repeatedly kept apologising to Aina, in order to allow
peace to reign.
He said: “She complained of my generator,
saying that it disturbs her. She would ask me to put it off, that she wanted to
sleep. Most times I would just switch off the generator, other times; I would
fall asleep, forgetting to switch it off. She even went as far as to report me
to the Community Development Association (CDA), that I should be warned about
the generator. After the meeting, which I didn't attend, someone came to tell
me that the matter she reported wasn't taken seriously, that they told her to go
and settle the case with me because the matter was between the two of us. She
also brought a security guard, Mr Godspower to my house. The guard came to my
house armed. He tried to shoot me, but she shouted, don’t shoot him here.”
Chukwu said that after the generator
case was laid to rest, then came the time for him to renew his rent. When he
got to Aina, she referred him to her lawyer. When he got to the lawyer, he was
told that he would have to pay another agreement, in additional with his
current rent. Chukwu said he knew that what Aina and her lawyer were demanding
was simply not done anywhere.
He said: “I didn’t utter a word. I only
had N125, 000 with me and my rent was N150, 000, with the agreement, everything
comes down to N175, 000. I paid N125, 000 and went home. The following morning,
I overhead my landlady speaking with the lawyer on the phone; she was shouting
that she didn’t like the way I was scattering money for her. She said that was
not how to pay money, but I didn't say anything. After sometime, I balanced her
remaining N50, 000.”
Chukwu said that prior to that incident;
he noticed that the security guards in the estate, Mr Umaru and Mr Godspower,
whom he used to be on good terms with, all turned against him.
He also recalled that there was a time
the estate wrote a petition against him after he forgot to lock the estate
gate.
He said that he had to open the gate for
a pregnant woman and forgot to lock it. Subsequently, the lock was changed and
he was notified or given a key.
He returned one day and discovered that
he had been locked out. He said that he knocked repeatedly, but no one came to
unlock the gate for him. He was forced to break it. He recalled that this
happened again, and then Aina, Godspower and some other people in the estate,
wrote a petition against him, alleging that he had destroyed some property.
Aina also alleged that Chukwu was
threatening to kill her, burn down the estate.
Following the petition, Chukwu and his
wife were arrested. His wife was then later given bail after paying the sum of
N5000. She was granted bail so that she would go and mind the children at home.
Chukwu, on the other hand, was detained
until the following day. He was then bailed by his friends. Chukwu said that a
policeman at the Mowe Police Station bought a new padlock and gave it to the estate.
He recounted: “Before all this, the
landlady has told the chairman of the CDA, Mr Ray Ikeoda and some other people
to warn me about the padlock. I was sleeping when they came. When they knocked
on my door, it was my wife that answered the door. They asked her to go and wake
me; when she came, I told her to tell them I was sleeping, but they still
insisted that they wanted to see me. I came out because I wanted to go and get
fuel. I didn’t greet them because they were not welcomed in my house. They
angrily told me to replace the padlock within 24hours. Before the 24hours was
over, they wrote the petition against me.”
Chukwu disclosed that the date, December
23, 2019, would forever be imprinted in his memory. That was the day he was
shot on his leg by Godspower, leading to him spending Christmas and New Year in
National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi, Lagos State.
According to him, on that fateful day,
he had gone out with Steven his landlady’s driver’s son and Segun, his
neighbour’s son to buy fuel.
On their way back from the filling
station, Godspower, flashed a torch on their faces and continued to blind them
with the flashlight, pretending he didn’t recognise them.
Chukwu said that the three of them asked
Godspower to stop blinding them with the torch, especially since he had recognised
and knew each of them. He alleged that it was at that point that Godspower
started raining curses on them.
He recollected: “Segun got angry and
returned the insult. I told Godspower to stop with his insults, but the guard
reached for a wood and tried to hit me. I removed my belt and attempted to use
it to defend myself. As Godspower tried
to hit me with the wood, I held his hand and used my belt on him. People gathered
and settled the case there. On our way to our various houses, Godspower, followed
us; but this time he was armed. I asked my wife to call Godspower that he shouldn’t
point the gun at her son. Godspower replied that he didn’t have any issue with
them before. He left Segun and faced me. And then, we heard a gunshot. I didn’t
know I had been hit. I attempted to run, just as others ran, but I fell. He has
shot me on my ankle. My wife came out, screaming for help. A neighbour, who was
driving pass in his mini bus saw me, stopped and rushed me to a nearby clinic.
“The wound couldn't be treated there and
I was referred to Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital (OOUTH) Sagamu,
where I deposited N15, 000 before I was admitted. A nurse came to check me after
three days, which was on the 26th. I was not being attended to, so I
decided to go to National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi, in Lagos.”
Chukwu said that in order to leave the
hospital to the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi, he needed to balance the
Shagamu hospital N26,000. He said that he called the chairman of the estate CDA
about his need to move and the need to balance the hospital, but he was told to
remain there as the association couldn’t afford any money for another hospital.
He stayed some days more and simply got
fed up with the treatment at the hospital and then called a friend, who
assisted him with the money to offset the balance and then he left.
Chukwu said that immediately he paid the
balance, he was given a referral letter to National Orthopaedic Hospital,
Igbobi.
On getting to National Orthopaedic
Hospital, Igbobi, he had to pay over N300, 000. He said that he was given free
blood and then the first surgery was done on his leg.
He added: “The other expenses are on me;
I had just my wife and a friend running around to make sure I didn’t lack
anything. The only money the CDA chairman gave me was N100, 000 and till date,
I haven't heard from them. I’m all alone on this. I even heard that the Godspower,
who shot me, has been granted bail. I beg the government to help me find justice
and I want human rights activists to come to my aid because justice has to take
its course.”
Chukwu, who said that his health had
been poorly, added that he had been stooling. He added: “I’ve been the one
paying my bills. I’ve run out of money. I need help. My wife has to borrow
N1000 this morning to get me food and water. We’re broke. I need intensive care
because of the nature of my injury. I’m in great pains. I can’t move my leg.
They are supposed to take me to theatre and work on my leg, but I’m worried
they might ask for another payment. The pins in my bone, holding my fractured
bones together have been disconnected. One was disconnected when it loosened
and the other one pulled out overnight. Since last night that I complained, a
doctor came, but he couldn’t adjust it.”
Mr Lawrence,
who said that he witnessed the attack on Chukwu, said: "I was walking pass
when I saw the security guards having a heated quarrel with Ifeanyi. I stopped to
settle the dispute between them and Ifeanyi. By then Ifeanyi had already
removed his belt, which he used to flog Godspower. I managed to settle the
quarrel and we walked into the Estate. On getting to my house gate, I
asked Ifeanyi to stay a little while in my house so that the tension of the
moment would reduce. Two hours later, Ifeanyi decided to return to his house. Some
minutes after we came out, Ifeanyi headed to the entrance of his house and just
like that, Godspower appeared from nowhere and blocked him from entering his
house. The guard was armed.
"I warned
the guard not to use the gun on anybody, but he turned deaf ears to my warning
and opened fire. As we were about to run, Ifeanyi fell down. We turned and saw
that he had been shot on his ankle. A resident in the estate was driving past in
his car, when we quickly flagged him and he assisted in taking Ifeanyi to
hospital.”
Our
correspondent gathered that Godspower was arrested by policemen from Mowe
Police Station, but later released.
Our correspondent also spoke with Mr Ray
Ikeoda, who Chukwu said was the chairman of the CDA
in the estate. The man, however, denied being the chairman. He said that he is
the vice chairman and now residents in Edo State.
While puncturing Chukwu’s allegation
that he was handling his medical bills all alone, without assistance from the
CDA, Ikeoda, said that the association had ceaselessly assisted the victim
financially and had never abandoned him.
According to him, aside from financial
assistance, the secretary of the association and other executives, have also
visited him. Ikeoda added that they also used to call on phones just to check
on him.
Ikeoda explained that he came into town
briefly from Edo State because his house was burgled and chanced upon a wounded
Chukwu.
He said that he was the person that used
his car to rush him to the nearby hospital. He disclosed at the first hospital,
where Chukwu was given First Aid, the association made payment. Chukwu was
later moved to the hospital in Shagamu and the CDA also made payment. When he
was finally moved to National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi, the association
also supported him with N100, 000.
Ikeoda said: “I was not there when the
incident happened, but what I heard that Ifeanyi, after flogging the security
guard, struggled to take possession of his gun. It was during the struggle that
the gun went off. It was accidental discharge.”
He further stated that he was not a
policeman and couldn’t explain why police allowed Godspower to go on bail. He,
however, opined that the police must have done its investigation.
He added: “The matter is with the police
and they should be able to investigate, but that doesn’t give him the right to
accuse anybody. If I’m to say this, the way you handle an issue determines how
people will attend to you. If he says he feels abandoned ask him what the
estate has done for him.”
Our correspondent went to Mowe Police
Station to get the fact of the matter, but the Divisional Police Officer (DPO)
in charge of the division, a Superintendent of Police (SP), Jaiyeola Martins,
declined comment.
Martins insisted that our correspondent
should get in touch with the Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO),
a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Abimbola Oyeyemi, stressing that he
was not in a position to comment on the shooting incident.
When Oyeyemi was contacted, he said:
“The shooting incident happened during an argument between the security guard
and Chukwu at night. But Chukwu didn’t die. Chukwu was returning at night and
the guard questioned him and then there was an argument. Chukwu started
struggling with the guard to take possession of his gun. During the struggle,
the gun fired, hitting Chukwu on his ankle and shattering the bone, but the
guard was also hit by the bullet. The matter was taken to the police station,
but their lives were more important to us. They were both taken to Olabisi
Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital for treatment, but Chukwu was later moved
to the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi, because his own was bone injury.
They are both responding to treatment.”
Asked if the matter would eventually be
charged to court, Oyeyemi said that police interrogate both men after they
might have healed. He said that after that it would be decided whether to
charge the matter to court or not.
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