We suspect slain doctor was assassinated –Police

Irawo Adamolekun

The Lagos State Police Command has said Irawo Adamolekun, the 27-year-old medical doctor, who was killed on Friday by a gunman in Lagos traffic, might have been assassinated.

The spokesperson for the state police command, Ngozi Braide, told one of our correspondents on the telephone that contrary to initial reports, the motive of his killer might not have been robbery.

Braide said, “The doctor was shot in the head while driving on Anthony end of Ikorodu Road. The Divisional Police Officer, Somolu said there was no heavy traffic at that time and the doctor’s car did not stop at that point but kept on moving.

“We suspect that he may have been assassinated but investigations are ongoing. We observed blood on the passenger seat and we observed that he was shot in the head. His telephone was also missing.”

She however lamented that investigations had been difficult because no one was willing to make statements, saying even the relatives of the deceased had yet to come forward.

Braide said, “No one has agreed to make statements. We even visited the hospital, Osuntuyi Medical Centre, where he worked but the doctor on duty refused to make statement. The doctor said only the Chief Medical Director could attend to us.

“The relatives too have not come to the station. It was some soldiers that called the station to say that they knew him and that they were going to the mortuary to take his corpse.”

She urged members of the public to come forward with vital information that could help the police with investigation, assuring them that their identities would be protected.

Meanwhile, family and friends of Adamolekun will on Wednesday hold a candle light procession in his honour.

In a related development, the Federal Civil Service Club, Ikoyi, Lagos, has joined in the mourning of Adamolekun.

The club pasted a cardboard on the wall of its entrance announcing the death of Adamolekun who was a member of the club.

The words written on the obituary stated, “Dr. Irawo Adamolekun, Member Lawn Tennis Section with Club Membership Number 4075, RIP.”

Efforts to contact the family of the deceased were unsuccessful as some reporters, who visited the residential quarters of the Military Hospital, Ikoyi, were turned by two soldiers at the gate.

We learnt that Irawo’s father is a colonel attached to the military hospital.