A 13-year-old boy, Olaitan Tiamiyu, narrowly escaped death after he was erroneously shot by a night guard who mistook him for a thief in Oyo State.
The incident happened at Wajawaja Community in Apete area of Ibadan on Monday night while the teen was on his father’s motorcycle.
The night guard, Mr Akeem Babalola, however, said that he thought the rider was a thief when he waved at him to stop but he sped off.
According to the Nigerian Tribune, the boy’s father, Alhaji Monsuru Tiamiyu, was on his way home with his son whom he went to pick from his mother’s shop when the incident occurred.
A community member, who craved anonymity, said the man was passing by Alapata Community on Apete-Akufo Road when he saw flashlights.
Thinking they were robbers, he increased his speed and left the people whose faces he could not see.
“He thought he had left them behind, but what he heard next was a loud bang from a gunshot. Then his son cried out that he had been hit,” the source said
With his son writhing in pain, the shocked father was said to have gone back where the shooter was and held him. Two other guards with him reportedly fled when they saw that their boss recognised the rider.
The source said that the father asked his son to make a distress call to their family members and neighbours who arrived at the scene of the incident shortly after.
It was further gathered that on sighting the boy with gunshot injuries, the mob which had gathered attacked the shooter until he lost consciousness.
The boy was taken to a local doctor to extract 11 pellets buried in his left thigh, buttock and back, while the night guard was conveyed to a private hospital for prompt medical treatment of his battered head and face.
Narrating his experience from his hospital bed, the JSS3 student said: “We live at Lamini Community. We were going home from my mother’s shop at Yidi area on Monday. We initially wanted to stop to pick something from our second shop at Alapata Community but my daddy decided against it because it was late.
“As we were on the road, we saw flashlights beamed in our direction. We saw men on the road standing on each side of it. We thought they were robbers, so my father sped past them to avoid an attack.
“As we were about to negotiate a corner, one of them fired a shot at us, hitting my thigh and back. It hit my father on his buttock. I cried out, telling my father that I had been hit when my leg went numb and cold. I saw blood flowing. I fell and sat on the ground.
“My father was so scared and angry. He turned back immediately and held the shooter. The night guard recognized my father but started using the flat side of his cutlass and charms to beat him. Initially, they didn’t allow us to call anyone. By then, I was bleeding and feeling weaker. My father held the shooter while the two others ran away. Eventually, I called my mother and informed her. She came with members of the landlords’ association.”
Other people who heard the commotion and rushed to the scene reportedly descended on the night guard when they saw the wounded boy bleeding. The Wajawaja Community residents who initially came were said to have hurriedly left when they saw the turn things took.
In his own explanation, the night guard, Mr Babalola, aged 55, who disclosed that he also owns a concrete block making business, said he suspected the motorcycle rider to be a thief.
“We usually resume duty at 11pm at Wajawaja Community where I was employed. I have two other men working with me. At about 11:50pm, I noticed a motorcycle rider coming towards where I was on the road. As the rider saw us ahead with flashlights, he made a turn,” the guard narrated.
“Seeing the way he quickly turned, I suspected him to be a thief trying to escape being caught. I told the two others to be on the watch out as he might be planning to commit crime
“At about 12:10am on Tuesday, the rider emerged again. As he was about to reach us, we waved him to a stop but he didn’t. He almost hit one of my men. I didn’t know that my finger was on the trigger of the dane gun I had with me. I just heard its sound, and it fell from my hand.
The man turned and started shouting that his son had been shot. By the time I looked at him closely, he was someone I knew.
“I told him of the need to quickly rush the boy to a hospital, but he held me and asked his son to call those he knew. Shortly after, some men arrived, brandishing guns.
“My dane gun was forcibly collected while they started beating me. They broke bottles on my head and stabbed me in different places. I lost consciousness and only found myself in the hospital.”
He said that the complainant was just trying to nail him by saying that he used charms to beat him, asking rhetorically how someone on whom charms were used would still be able to stand?
The spokesperson of the State Police Command, CSP Adewale Osifeso, confirmed the incident.
He said was already being investigated, adding that an update would be provided.
