Assailants kill businessman in Ondo hotel

A businessman identified as Babatunde Olubasa, has been killed by assailants who had allegedly trailed him to a hotel where he lodged in Ondo State.

The State Police Command, in a statement on Monday, December 28, said it has begun investigations into the circumstances surrounding the death of the 38-year-old Olubasa who was murdered at the Helena Hotel in the Ijapo area of Akure.

The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Tee-Leo Ikoro, who confirmed the incident, said the Commissioner of Police, Bolaji Salami, had ordered operatives of the Command to make sure the assailants are brought to book.

“We have commenced investigation and trying to track down those who killed him. It’s an assassination. At the time it happened, there was nobody else at the bar, except the bar girl. The bar girl said the three killers came into the hotel.

“The deceased lodged in that hotel and went out at some point in time. By the time he came back, the assailants were already at the bar drinking. When he got to the bar, the three guys asked for a lighter from him to light their cigarettes and he said no.

Read also: Gunmen abduct businessman, set police van on fire in Kano

“It was at that point that they pulled out their guns and shot him. The assailants left the hotel when he gave up the ghost.

“We are on their trail right now. The Commissioner of Police has ordered a full investigation into the incident. To us, we are thinking it was an assassination. But the investigation will unravel all that happened,” Ikoro said.

A staff of the hotel who spoke on the killing of the businessman said he was shot in the head during an argument with the killers over a cigarette lighter.

“The killing of the man was a clear case of someone who had been targeted. The guys who killed him had requested a lighter from him at the bar. But he declined their request. His reaction made them to engage him in an argument before opening fire on him.

“After shooting him, they also descended on him with a small axe to completely snuff life out of him.”

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now