A week after the robbery incident, families have continued to mourn their beloved ones who died in the attack, but a rather unusual story of one of the victims was that of Mrs. Kuburat Salam who went to report a peeping Tom.
According to Salam’s brother, who is a former Secretary, Offa Local Government Area, Mr. Muftau Adeyemo, Salam had met her untimely death when she went to report a man who was peeping at her while having bath at her residence and was discussing with a policewoman at the Offa Divisional Police Headquarters.
Adeyemo, whose cousin, simply identified as Adesina, also got wounded by a bullet in the incident, explained that the Peeping Tom had visited a friend who lives in the same compound with Salam.
He added that when Salam noticed that the young man was allegedly peeping at her when she was bathing, she confronted him but the man was not remorseful.
Adeyemo said, “Salam was killed. She went to the police station. My sister was married, she was about 40 years. She was living in a ‘face-you-and-face-me’ apartment. She was bathing and a young man was living in that compound. A guy came to visit him. He walked across the bathroom where my sister was bathing, and I learnt he was peeping into the bathroom. My sister confronted him and said, ‘you are not living here and you just came to peep at a woman bathing?’ The man ran away.
“When my sister’s husband came back home, they went to the shop of the young man living in that compound. They met the man who was peeping and he started fighting my sister. So, the people around advised that my sister should report the man to the police. She went to the police station and the police arrested the Peeping Tom and his friend and detained them.
“On the second day, the neighbours pleaded that the men should be released and that we should withdraw the matter. The police said my sister who reported the case must be at the police station before the men could be released. My sister then went there and the matter was settled. The two young men went away.
“My sister was later discussing the incident with a policewoman within the police premises; the policewoman was not around when the matter was reported the previous day. As my sister was narrating the story, the robbers came in. She ran inside the police station, but the robbers followed her and killed her and everybody in the police station.
“It was only the Divisional Police Officer and the Divisional Crime Officer who escaped. At least nine policemen and 10 civilians were killed in the police station alone, let alone those who were killed outside the police station and at the banks.”
Describing what happened to his cousinn, Adesina, who was also injured, Adeyemo said the young man had gone to one of the banks to withdraw money.
He explained that as soon as Adesina parked and alighted from his car and was heading towards the Automated Teller Machine section of the bank, one of the robbers ordered him to come.
He added that before Adesina could cross the road to meet with the robber, a street urchin that also wanted to collect money from Adesina was gunned down by one of the robbers.