Family demands justice for 18-yr-old girl allegedly killed by NSCDC during LG poll

The family of an 18-year-old girl, Kofoworola Lateefat Abubakar, allegedly killed by officials of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) during the last weekend local government election in Oyo State wants justice for the victim.

Kofoworola was reportedly shot at a pharmaceutical store near a polling unit when she went to get some drugs for herself after complaining of headache to her parents.

Our correspondent reports that on Monday, the Idi-Oro, Dugbe, home of the victim was in mourning mood as angry neighbours and friends wailed uncontrollably on the untimely death of the deceased.

Her elder sibling, Gbemisola, told Eko Trust, “Kofoworola finished her O’level exams last Thursday and met her untimely death on Saturday. She told almost everybody in the neighbourhood that she would be travelling to Lagos after her exams. She was supposed to leave Ibadan on Sunday but died on Saturday. My landlady was even expecting her in Lagos but that wouldn’t be. That Saturday morning, she told my mother she was having headache and my mother told her to go to her friend’s shop to get drugs.

“She also told her to go along with her Temporary Voters Card so that she wouldn’t be harassed by the security agents. My mother’s friend told us that when she got to her shop, she was just telling her that she wanted to buy drugs when an NSCDC man released the shot that killed the innocent girl.”

The father of the victim, Mr Kolawole Abubakar, confirmed to our correspondent that the alleged killer of his daughter, whom he described as a staff of the NCSDC, had been apprehended by the police, a claim that ran contrary to that of the NSCDC management that it was hoodlums that killed her.

Abubakar, who said he could not recollect the name of the alleged culprit, added that when the police asked the killer why he shot Kofoworola, he replied it was a mistake as he lost his foothold while jumping down from their van and the rifle triggered.

Abubakar wondered why the NSCDC management was “lying” that hoodlums shot his daughter “when there were no hoodlums in the area when Kofoworola arrived there.”

The father of the victim refuted some online stories that the governor of the state, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, had visited the Abubakar family house to commiserate with the family members, saying it was untrue.

“It is not true that the governor visited our house. The most annoying thing about it is that despite the fact that it was the NSCDC official that killed my daughter, the public relations officer of the NSCDC told reporters that hoodlums killed her. That is unacceptable to a sensible person. Life is involved and we have to be careful about such an issue,” he said.

The Oyo State Police Public Relations Officer, Adekunle Ajisebutu, confirmed to Eko Trust that the NSCDC official suspected to have killed Kofoworola was in police custody and investigation was ongoing.