Gunmen have shot and macheted to death a politician, Oluwatosin Onamade, in the Ijede area of Ikorodu, Lagos State.
PUNCH Metro gathered that Onamade, until his death, was an aspirant for the chairmanship position of Ijede Local Council Development Area under the banner of the All Progressives Congress.
His distraught brother, Oluwafemi Onamade, who managed to speak with our correspondent, lamented that the assailants had been trailing his elder brother before the unfortunate day.
Narrating the incident which happened on Saturday night, in an exclusive interview with PUNCH Metro, Femi said the assailants were clad in black outfits with no one seeing their faces.
Femi, who had once survived a similar attack alongside his brother, said the gunmen used a machete on the deceased when the bullets earlier fired from their guns did not penetrate his body.
“It happened around 9 pm on Saturday. They were two gunmen. They were wearing black outfits and no one could recognise them. His aide said he could not wait when he heard gunshots. They shot at him and macheted him in front of his house. It happened at his house in Ijede, Oluwatosin Onamade Street. The street is named after him.
“They shot him. When the bullets did not penetrate in time, they used machetes on his head and face,” he said.
Suspecting that his brother’s death was linked to his political ambition, Femi said, “They know he had an upper hand and many followers.”
He explained that an attack had been made on his brother in 2021 which he survived.
“An attack had been made in 2021 and some of the culprits are still in prison but judgment has not been made yet.”
In an interview with The PUNCH in 2021, the deceased narrated his traumatic encounter with alleged political assassins, who killed one of his staff members.
He said the incident happened on April 16, 2021.
He said, “The day the incident occurred was Friday, April 16, 2021. But the Sunday (April 11) before that day, somebody called me (on the phone) to say they were coming to destroy the APC leadership meeting which usually held in my house. I said, ‘From who?’ The person told me it was from ‘the top,’ sponsored by a leader in the LGA and I said, ‘No problem. If that is the case, I have to hire some military men and other security officers to secure the entrance of my house.’
“On that day, when they (the assailants) couldn’t gain access to my compound, they went ahead to destroy all the (campaign) banners I had put up in the community. They went to the party secretariat in Ijede LCDA and maliciously destroyed the big box banner that I had erected in that place.”
“They killed one of my staff members, Mr Ifeanyi Godfrey, who was also an executive member on my campaign committee. They butchered him, shot him in the head and threw his body into an empty coffin, where he worked in a funeral home.
“I was at the back (of the building). A well-known gang member shot at me but I dodged and hid myself. They were shouting, ‘This man is escaping again; we are going to find him and kill him.’ It was so barbaric; it was something I could never have imagined,” the deceased had said.
“My brother, Oluwafemi, who was in the second office, resisted their attempts to get in, and they left. Once they left, I came out to examine the damage. I started calling the police, but no policeman showed up, even though they were not far from my location.
“Then, the thugs came back, and immediately they saw me, they said, ‘So, he was inside.’ They then forced their way in. In the process, they began to hack my brother with a machete. They even wanted to cut his hand off,” he added in the interview.
When contacted on Monday, his friend, who asked not to be named for the sensitivity of the situation, said the assailants who had been trying to kill his friend eventually succeeded.
“The PUNCH did the story in 2021 of one of his numerous survivors of their attempts, including one in which they killed his worker. They have finally taken him out,” he simply said, calling on authorities to ensure justice.
He said Onamade was a strong contender in the chairmanship race in the council. “He was a strong contender. Situations like that have been rampant in Ijede and call for serious attention from authorities.”
The APC in the council and state has not issued any statement on the incident.
When contacted on Monday, the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, CSP Benjamin Hundeyin, said the command was aware of the incident and investigation was ongoing.
“Investigation has commenced into the incident,” Hundeyin said in a text message. (Punch)
