A 35-year-old zoo keeper at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Babaji Daule was on Saturday killed by a lion at the Zoological Garden.
The incident reportedly occurred in the early hours of Saturday, September 29, 2024, around 7:40 am when Daule forgot to lock the barricade of the cage to feed the lion.
Spokesperson of the Ogun State Police Command, Omolola Odutola, who confirmed the incident in a statement reported the Chief Security Officer of the OOPL that the trained handler of the male lion carelessly neglected to secure the locks and barricade of lion’s enclosure before approaching the cage to feed the animal.
“A deadly incident involving a wild animal attack has been reported by the Area Commander metro. On September 28, 2024, at about 7:40 hrs the Chief Security Officer of Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library informed the divisional police officer that a 35-year-old man named Babaji Daule from Bauchi State, who is a trained handler of a male lion at the Zoological Garden in OOPL Abeokuta, tragically lost his life,” Odutola said.
He said the laxity allowed the lion to escape and attacked Daule who sustained fatal neck injuries which resulted to his death.
“It was discovered that the lion handler carelessly neglected to secure the locks and barricade the of lion’s enclosure before approaching the cage to feed the animal. This negligence allowed the lion to escape and attack the handler, resulting in fatal injuries to the handler’s neck and eventual death.
“The victim’s body was removed and taken to the mortuary at Ijaye General Hospital, while the wild lion was shot to release its grip on the handler,” the police spokesperson said.
LEADERSHIP recalls that a staff of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) Ile-Ife, Osun state, Mr Olabode Olawuyi was killed in similar incident by a lion he was feeding on February 19, 2024.
Olawuyi, who was a Veterinary Technologist in the Department of Zoology of the University and handler of the lion was feeding the animal when he was attacked by the wild cat.
Efforts to rescue Olawuyi from the lion by other staff in the department proved abortive which eventually led to his death.
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