Gunmen suspected to be armed robbers on Wednesday afternoon shot dead the Director of Finance and Account attached to the Ogun State Governor’s office, Mr.Taiwo Oyekanmi.
Oyekanmi was gunned down at the height of the fly-over bridge by the NNPC Junction along the IBB Boulevard in the Oke – Mosan axis of Abeokuta metropolis while returning from the bank, where he had gone to make withdrawals in preparation for the Thursday’s budget presentation by the state governor, Abiodun.
Eyewitness told LEADERSHIP that Oyekanmi was rushed to the state hospital in Ijaiye, Abeokuta where he was pronounced dead.
When contacted, the spokesperson of Ogun State Police Command, Omolola Odutola, could not confirm the killing as she declared that she was yet to be briefed about the incident.
Two top civil servants at the Governor’s Office in Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, who spoke with LEADERSHIP under the condition of anonymity, confirmed the incident, stressing that the incident has devastated the governor and also thrown the entire secretariat into mourning.
Meanwhile, the state Commissioner of Police, Abiodun Alamutu, has confirmed the development, stressing that the armed men double-crossed the vehicle of the deceased, which had five occupants.
Alamutu said, “This afternoon, the accountant, the director of finance with his driver and one other person left for Fidelity Bank to make some withdrawal, they went with a homemade bullion van. They were supposed to have a police escort, but for certain reasons, the person was permitted to travel to attend to some issues, so consequently he was not part of the movement today.
“According to the story, after making the withdrawal and on their way back to the office, they were accosted. A vehicle blocked them on top of the bridge, five occupants of the vehicle came down, shot at the director and from their vehicle brought out a sledge hammer to force the receptacle where the money was kept open and they left with the money.
“As at that time there was no information, the police escort was not with the team and they sped off. The driver claimed to have trailed them to a point along the conference hotel where he lost contact with them.
“The director that was shot was thereafter taken to Ijaye hospital where he eventually gave up the ghost.
“For our investigation, I have directed the area commander to get to the bank and request for the CCTV footage which will give us insight into the vehicle in question and possibility of identifying the culprits if they ever ventured to step out of the vehicle or maybe they just maintained their position in the vehicle.
“I have reached out to Lagos and everywhere in the command to block all the exits out of the state while we are trying to identify them because they said they were five and they used hoods.”
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