{CRIME ZONE} ~ Friend kills Lagos driver to date Girlfriend

A 28-year - old bus driver , Abraham Umar, has been killed by suspected cult members at Cele bus stop, in the Ijanikin area of Lagos State .

The police said the victim was set up by his friend who was obsessed with his ( Abraham’ s ) 17-year - old girlfriend.

It was learnt that Abraham, aka Abi , was eating at the girlfriend’ s mother ’ s bamboo restaurant when the gunmen invaded the place around 9pm on Tuesday.
They reportedly shot the Benue State indigene in the head , killing him on the spot.
Our correspondent learnt that the case was reported at the Ijanikin Police Station and the girlfriend, identified only as Elo , was arrested.

A witness, who did not want to be identified , said the gunmen came in a group after Abraham, who plied the Lagos -Badagry Expressway route, parked his vehicle and went to eat.
He said , “ He was with his conductor and the owner of the commercial bus when one of the gunmen tapped him on the back . Another one pushed him and slammed his head against the wall . Then one of them put a gun to his head and shot him dead. Everybody ran away. ”

The victim ’ s sister, Aminat Umar, while fighting back tears, said Abraham’ s friend , one Peter , broke the news to the family.
She explained that the victim had called her after parking his vehicle around 9. 21pm.
“ He said he was on his way home. About 10 minutes later , his best friend , Peter , rushed to our house, saying Abi had been shot at Cele bus stop and that his corpse had been taken to a police station.

“ My mother and uncle ran to the Ijanikin Police Station , but were told that nobody was brought there . They went to a private hospital around Cele bus stop and were again told that the body was not brought to the hospital .
“ The hospital workers said they should check the station . The police later admitted that he was there . I was told that his conductor and the owner of the commercial bus were in the cell , ” she added .

Our correspondent learnt that the deceased lost his father , a former naval officer , when he was barely six years old .

His foster father , Muhammed Umaru , said Abraham had been receiving threat text messages from some men who asked him to stop his relationship with Elo .

He said , “ They told him to leave the girl because she belonged to one of them .
“ My son ’ s friend , Peter , said the young man behind the messages had once confronted them . I was told that the rival was dark in complexion and had dreadlocks .
“ I told his aunt and uncle , who asked the girl to stay away from Abraham and also warned him to leave Elo alone . But they refused to quit the relationship. ”
The deceased ’ s uncle , Sani Umar, described him as gentle and easy -going .
He said , “ He was a calm man and never involved himself in any trouble . This incident is just unfortunate . The problem was that the girl he was dating had another boyfriend who is a cult member and that was why he was killed. We want justice ; he must not die in vain. ”
Elo , 17, who had been arrested by the police, however , said Abraham was her only boyfriend, adding that she could not tell why he was killed.

“ He called me last night ( Tuesday) , saying he was going to my mum’ s shop and if he could wait for me there . I said he should not wait because I was at my brother’ s place in Ajegunle and would not be coming back that night . I told him that we were planning my brother’ s wedding . On Wednesday when I got back home, I was told Abi had been killed. I don’ t know about any threat because he did not tell me about it, ” she said .
A source said cult killings were rampant in Ijanikin, adding that security operatives had not been able to curb the activities of cult members in the area .
He called on the police authorities to come to the aid of residents.

He said , “ The cult members go into houses to kill people at will. Members of a family are still at a hospital after they were attacked by these boys . Two weeks ago , two boys were shot and killed at the bus stop because they refused to release their phones . ”
The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer , CSP Chike Oti, said four suspects had been arrested.
However, Oti noted that Abraham’ s best friend set him up over the 17- year -old girlfriend.

He said , “ Abraham ’ s friend had a crush on the girl . It got to a point of obsession as he started talking to the man ’ s girlfriend to leave him . However , when he was not getting the desired cooperation from the girl , he set up his friend with some other guys, who killed him .
“ The matter was reported at the Ijankin Police Station and immediately, the state Commissioner of Police, Edgal Imohimi , ordered the Divisional Police Officer to fish out the murderers . So far , the DPO has picked up four suspects, while the principal suspect, the one who had a crush on the girl, is still at large. We are on his trail and he cannot escape justice . ”

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