Wife of sound engineer burnt to death in Lagos demands justice, says her husband was not a ritualist or into yahoo

Grace, the wife of David Sunday, a late sound engineer, has demanded justice after her husband was lynched by Hausa Okada riders who attacked him and his colleagues in the Lagos State neighborhood of Lekki.

The mother of two, speaking amid tears at their home in the state’s Ejigbo region, said her husband was slain in cold blood.

“My husband was setting up for a show inside Beer Barn (an entertainment facility), while two of his colleagues, Frank and Philip, who mounted a motorcycle, had an argument with the motorcyclist,” she said.

“They agreed on paying N400 and gave the motorcyclist N500 to collect N100, but the motorcyclist said he did not have ‘change.’

“So, they gave him N300 and told the motorcyclist that they always played at Beer Barn and promised to give him the money later.

“The motorcyclist refused, and that was how the dispute started.

“When the fight became intense, people came inside to call their colleagues, including my husband, and they rushed outside to help.

“But when they found out that there were many Okada riders outside, they ran back to the venue; the manager of the venue sent them back and claimed not to know them.

“While others were lucky to escape, the Okada riders caught up with my husband and as the attention was on him, some good Samaritans quickly rescued his two colleagues and rushed them to a hospital.

“Aside from Frank, Philip and my husband, there were other colleagues who also sustained injuries during the attack.

“The Okada riders beat my husband to a pulp, put tyres on him and set him ablaze as if he was an armed robber.

“How much do I earn to take care of my children alone? A marriage of nine years ended just like that!

“My husband went to work; he did two jobs just to take care of us.

“He was a hardworking man that was caring, loving, and ready to do any handiwork because he was a craftsman.

“I felt bad when I heard that they wrongly tagged him and his friends Yahoo boys or ritualists.

“I want justice and help from the government because of my children,” she added.

The manager of David’s team, the Legacy 360 Band, one Mr Bode, stated that he had nothing to say as investigation into the incident was ongoing, The Punch reports.

In a statement released on Monday, Beer Barn management revealed that David had been recruited to provide musical entertainment for its patrons.

The first sign of trouble, according to the leisure hub, was a ruckus at its entrance, which was highlighted by a mob attempting to push its way in.

The statement reads, “We requested to know what the issue was and members of the mob replied that somebody from our facility had used a charm to hit one of its members, who was presumed dead.

“While we were engaging the mob, David, who was alleged to have used the charm, came out of our facility and was forcibly taken away from our premises by the mob, which insisted my husband was a Yahoo boy (Internet fraudster) trying to use the victim for a money ritual.

“Our internal security men couldn’t stop them in spite of their best efforts.

“Outside our facility, some members of the irate mob made up of commercial Okada riders surrounded the car in which the founder of the live band and three other band members were locked.

“There were three naval officers around the car and they told us they were trying to resolve the matter that led to the commotion.

“Noticing that the military men were not making any headway in their efforts to bring the situation under control, we called the Rapid Response Squad because the number of angry motorcyclists was increasing.

“The RRS team arrived, but said the crowd was too big for them to control.

“At the time of their arrival, nobody had died.

“The victim of the altercation with the band boy had also regained consciousness.

“In a further attempt to prevent any untoward occurrence, we called the Divisional Police Officer of Maroko Police Station.

“But before his team could get to our facility, the mob had already burnt David, and was on the verge of doing same to his colleague, Philip Balogun, when policemen from Maroko arrived, and dispersed the crowd by firing in the air.”

Meanwhile, CSP Shola Jejeloye, the Chairman of the Lagos State Taskforce, led a team to the axis on Monday to conduct a raid on commercial motorcyclists operating illegally in the region.

During the four-hour operation, ten Okada riders were arrested, and 123 motorbikes traversing the Lekki-Epe Expressway, Admiralty Way, and its surrounds were seized for operating on banned routes and causing a nuisance in the state.

Jejeloye stated that, “The murder of Mr David by the Okada men is a painful and tragic incident, hence the need to intensify our activities in the axis, and in the state to ensure that the menace of Okada is brought to a complete halt and also prevent a reoccurrence of such an inhumane and barbaric act.”

In a statement, the state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso, called for calm and said four apprehended suspects had been sent to the State Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Yaba.

“Lagos has no room for savagery and anybody found to have been involved in this barbarism will surely face the law.

“We condemn and will not condone any kind of jungle justice, no matter who the perpetrators are,” he added.

Omotosho claimed to have called with the deceased’s family, and expressed the state governor’s condolences, assuring them that justice will be done.