Bound together in death •The tragic end of an easygoing elderly couple

RESIDENTS of Andero community, Tanke area of Ilorin metropolis, the Kwara State capital, were thrown into fear and apprehension a few days before Christmas as news broke of the murder of an aged couple within the vicinity, thus spreading anxiety among several other communities in the state.

Till date, palpable shock and sorrow still pervade the whole of Andero community as residents have continued to keep indoors, with the streets deserted and the absence of the usual bubbly atmosphere characterised by kids running around as they play and young adults chatting away. It is a scenario much unlike the celebration and merriment known for both the Christmas and New Year festivities.

Sunday Tribune recalled that the elderly couple from the South-Eastern part of the country were reportedly murdered in the area several days ago, while their corpses were thrown inside a well located in their fenced building by the attackers.

Attempts by Sunday Tribune to speak with one or two adults around the area sitting in front of their houses became a Herculean task as the tragic event had suddenly made them to become wary of strangers. None wanted to be quoted or identified by name.

When Sunday Tribune eventually succeeded, none of them could fathom the reason behind the murder. They stated that an incident of such magnitude had never occurred in the community.

In what was described as probably a premonition of the fate suffered by the couple at the hands of their attackers, one of the neighbours said the elderly man was reluctant to pack into the building after its completion about 16 years ago.

The couple were described as easygoing personalities, while the man in particular – popularly called Baba Ibo – was said to be a jovial person who always carried a smile among residents of the area.

One of the residents of the area, Aduke Israel (not real names), said the incident still remained a mystery to members of the community.

“The sad event is still a shock to us because they were very nice people. It’s only God that knows what’s hidden to humans. The house was the only one attacked that night.

“There was a guard. Actually, it was when the attack on their building became regular that they engaged the service of the guard. Thieves usually came during the day when they would have left the house for work or an outing. So, the security guard would leave in the evening after they might have returned from their outing. It’s the woman that usually arrived home earlier than the man who usually came home at about 9 p.m. It’s the new Camry car they just bought that the attackers took away after killing them,” the woman said.

Also speaking, another resident of the community, Madam Olanrewaju Felicia (not real names), said her family encouraged the late couple to move into the area after they had completed their building but refused to pack in for being the only house in the area then.

“He was very friendly. Whenever he passed in front of our building any time he went out, he would hoot, saying ‘hello, how’re you.’ It’s only God that knows what we don’t. For me, he was so nice. The wife was also gentle. She was a retired school teacher. She retired not long ago. She would park their vehicle in front of our building when she returned in the evening and take it inside their building when her husband returned in the night. We’ve never experienced anything like this before.

“We have just opened our door today. Whenever we ruminate over the matter, we are left confused and dazed. We didn’t hear any sound of gunshot from their building that night; nothing. Killing and throwing people inside a well could only be done by heartless people. You can imagine! It’s was not auto accident for one to say the couple died at same time.

Asked if the man was also a retiree like his wife, Madam Felicia said:”That I don’t really know. It was when we packed into our building, close about 16 years ago, that they decided to move inside their own house too. There were no houses around here then.

“One day, the man just came to inspect his house and the environment and saw our building with ordinary mosquito net on the windows. We had not erectedour fence then. He came knocking our door early that morning. He saw me and asked for my husband. It’s just like he had known my husband for ages.

“They greeted heartily and embraced each other. That’s when he said he had completed his building before ours but refused to move in because there was no building around. He asked rhetorically how we’ve been living all alone here and my husband responded that there was no problem and he should decide to move in too.

“And since they moved in, it has been a peaceful relationship. We don’t know where this kind of calamity emanated from. Nothing like this sort had ever happened around here before, except occasional stealing of items by thieves. So, whether he worked before and retired I don’t know. I don’t really know his job. But the wife, who retired as a school teacher, had a shop at Tanke.”

Meanwhile, following ongoing security investigations on the murder, the state police command has said that it has arrested and detained a security guard manning the home of the couple. This is just as the Sunday Tribune had gathered more facts on the incident.

Findings from a police source investigating the murder said that the security guard was detained because he could not offer satisfactory explanation on how the occupants of the house he was employed to guard were murdered without his knowledge.

“Can you imagine the guard claiming he did not know that the couple were dead inside the house when he supposedly resumed duty in the morning? He said he could not see that there were a lot of disruptions to the arrangement of the home. More importantly, investigators want to know how he gained entry to the house when the owners were supposed to have been inside throughout the night.

“What he claimed was that he had an extra key allegedly given to him by the old man, but how come that upon resuming for duty in the morning, he could not go inside to announce his presence?” the police source said.

The police source also shed light on some aspects of earlier media report of the incident, saying the couple were not shot but clobbered to death by their assailants who later covered their faces with clothes, tied their hands separately before tying the two together after which they were dumped inside the well.

“It was apparently a well-planned job because they came with a key with which they locked the well which showed that they knew what they were coming to do. As a matter of fact, if not because one of us who went to the scene had an experience of a similar incident in another state, it would have taken a longer time to discover that the corpses were inside the well. It was the guy who insisted we check the well after we saw traces of blood but could not find the bodies, and lo and behold, they were inside,” the source said.

It was gathered that the late couple had four children, two sons and two daughters, who had reportedly left the residence after their respective marriages.

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