Odunayo Alade, father of secondary school student Kehinde Paul, who was struck by a bullet on his way to school on Tuesday, has shared his account of the incident.
Recall that the 14-year-old student was reportedly in his father’s car when he was hit by a stray bullet allegedly fired by a police officer along Gbagi Market road in the Egbeda Local Government Area of Oyo State.
In an interview with News Central TV, the deceased father stated that he was only trying to take a common shortcut used by residents to get to the main junction of their neighbourhood in order to get his children to school on time.
Alade reportedly clarified that it was Kehinde’s older brother who was writing his West African Secondary School Certificate Examination while Kehinde who would have clocked 14 by November 26 was in SS1.
Speaking during the interview, Alade recounted the incident saying, “I was taking the children to school yesterday morning, and at the entrance of my junction, just a stone’s throw, not up to one pole or two poles, to where we just followed and branched to a normal way. So as I came out, I had to gauge the tyre, then enter the road, but to my surprise, I saw OYRTMA officials.
“They blocked me, even jammed my vehicle. Then I had to reverse, try to bypass them. I didn’t know they were up to four or five. So, by cutting him off, another vehicle, it was a towing vehicle, hit my vehicle again. So I tried to pass through that one too, but I just maneuvered myself to cut them off.”
Alade explained that he didn’t know they were trying to stop him and wanted to avoid falling victim of their “traps” as he was in a haste to take the children to school because of Kehinde’s brother who had a crucial WASSCE paper at 8:30 a.m. that day.
He said, “I didn’t know. It was when I entered through that road, one of them just came and jammed my vehicle. You know how Nigerian government works behave, you are on your own, once you fall into their traps, you understand?
“Moreover, the elder brother of the deceased was supposed to write WASSCE yesterday. He was having an 8.30am paper yesterday. So if I should stop then, they would delay the boy. So that’s why I just maneuvered and got on my way.
“They said I followed one way and I let them know that this is the road that everybody -all the neighbourhood-this is the way they are passing. A very short distance to the main junction. I won’t say it is one-way, because the place is a very short space. Very short, it’s not up to a pole. We just come out and then we follow the normal way down.”
He added that a few moments after, believing the threat was behind them, he heard a gunshot and was shocked when his son began crying out.
“So after I left them, I just heard the gunshot. I didn’t stop. Then the boy in question was shouting, ‘Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, Daddy.’
“I was even shouting on him that ‘why are you shouting? We’ve left them so we are safe and there’s no problem.’ I didn’t know that the bullet hit the boy. It was his twin brother that said, ‘Daddy stop, Paul has been shot.” So, immediately I heard that, I parked and brought him out. The whole place was soaked with blood.”
Kehinde, however, did not survive the gunshot wound as he reportedly died on his way to the University College Hospital.
Alade added, “I saw that those policemen and OYRTMA officials were coming after me. I just hijacked one of them. I held his trousers. So people gathered and there was another parent in the vehicle. They took the boy to welfare hospital.
“So from there, they gave him oxygen. Then released the ambulance to us to carry the boy to UCH. But before he got to the place, he gave up the ghost.”
Speaking about the deceased student, Alade said Kehinde was a promising SS1 student who had recently switched from Science to Arts with dreams of becoming a lawyer.
He said, “As a matter of fact, he was telling me last week that he would like to be a lawyer. Before they resumed for first term in SS1, I bought their science textbooks for two of them separately.
“As they were resuming for the second term, he decided that he’s no longer interested in science. He said, ‘I want to become a lawyer.’ So, he went back to Art class. He was an Art student before this terrible thing happened.”
Alade also revealed that he had been raising his children alone since their mother abandoned the family seven years ago.
He said, “Their mother abandoned us seven years ago and I made a promise to myself to give my children the best life possible. I’ve worked tirelessly to provide for them, often sacrificing my needs.
“I have turned down opportunities to remarry because I wanted to focus on raising my kids. I often wonder which woman would accept me and my situation without jeopardising their well-being.”
Demanding justice for his son’s death, he said, “This cannot go unpunished. I want those responsible to be held accountable. No parent should have to endure the pain of losing a child in such a senseless manner. I need to understand why this happened.
“I just want justice. Concerning the police issue, the way they behave, the way they use power on the citizens is uncalled for. Their brutality is uncalled for. I mean, once they give them a little power, they misuse it. So that’s it. I want justice.”
An eyewitness who was in the car with Alade and the children also in a now-viral video backed Alade’s account, stating that the officials were aware that there were children in the vehicle.
He said, “One of them came and tried to open the door and drag the steering with the deceased’s father. Another one tried to open my own door too and he made a statement saying, ‘You’re carrying children and you’re driving rough.’ So they knew we were carrying children. They saw them in uniform.
“So, when he escaped their arrest, the next thing we heard was a gunshot. We thought they were scaring people away. The deceased was shouting that they shot him, I looked back and did not see any broken mirror. All the children were making noise and we were trying to calm them down. Then I saw him gasping so I told him to stop the vehicle. I’m a medical practitioner so I gave him some palliation before we drove to the welfare hospital.”
PUNCH Online reports that responding to the incident, the Oyo State Government said the operation was carried out by the Oyo Road Transport Management Authority and a team of police officers in response to frequent one-way driving violations that have caused fatal accidents in the past.
The Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, has also ordered a full-scale investigation into the killing of the 14-year-old boy.
Meanwhile, the Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, has confirmed that the officer involved has been taken into custody.
