A retired controller of works at the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, AbdulRazaq Ajani, was brutally murdered on New Year’s Day in Ilorin, moments after returning home with his wife and children from a trip to his hometown, Offa.
The incident occurred at about 3 p.m. at Dele Gege Street, off Awolowo Road in the Tanke Area of the Kwara State capital.
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Speaking with PREMIUM TIMES at the residence about two hours after the incident, family members described how the assassins casually entered Mr Ajani’s compound moments after he drove in with his immediate family members.
Described as four young men between 18 and 22 years old, it was not clear how they arrived in the area.
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However, a review of CCTV camera recordings showed two of them standing beside Mr Ajani’s gate, one of them sipping water from a plastic bottle, while the two others strolled into the compound.
On noticing the young men from one of the two sitting rooms on the ground floor of the one-storey main building, the retired officer reportedly rose to meet them at the main door.
“They appeared to be engaging him in a discussion until he was suddenly lying face down on the ground,” said one of the family members describing what he saw on the CCTV.
The immediate family members reportedly watched in horror as the assassins hacked their father with what looked like small axes.
Their gruesome task accomplished, the assassins swiftly fled the scene before the howling of the family members drew the attention of neighbours.
When this reporter arrived at the house at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, the police had evacuated the body and left.
A few mourners and some family members sat in the main sitting room, a few metres from the blood-splattered corridor where the senior citizen was hacked to death by the assassins.
A civil engineer, Mr Ajani retired from the Federal Ministry of Works about four years ago but was said to have accepted a contract appointment at the ministry last year.
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Neighbours in the quiet street spoke highly of him and his wife, who owns a popular confectionery, Reo Cakes, in Ilorin.
Toun Ejire-Adeyemi, the police spokesperson in Kwara State, said the police have begun investigations into the incident.
Speaking with PREMIUM TIMES on the phone, Thursday morning, Mrs Ejire-Adeyemi said the police replied promptly to a distress call from the residence but the killers escaped before the arrival of officers.
“We will review the CCTV records and other evidence and bring those involved in the killing to justice,” she said.
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