Olugbade Adegoke, the elder brother of Timothy Adegoke, the MBA student of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun State, who died under mysterious circumstances in November, has escaped a kidnapping attempt.

Olugbade told FIJ on Monday that the incident happened in Eruwa, his hometown in Oyo State, around 9.30 pm on Saturday.

“Around that time, I left home to quickly get provisions. The moment I got what I needed and emerged from the store, I saw that a car had now been parked very close to the store. The car was not there before I went into the store,” Olugbade told FIJ.

He said some men jumped out of the car and pursued him.

“As they were chasing me, I started screaming. I was too scared to know their number, but they were not less than three. They were screaming, ‘That’s him! That’s him!,’”said Olugbade.

He said some men of the Western Nigeria Security Network (WNSN), popularly known as Amotekun, who happened to be stationed very close to the location, came to his rescue during the chase.

“The moment the men sighted the Amotekun officers, they jumped back into the car they came in and sped off,” he added.

Olugbade has been at the vanguard of the struggle for justice for his murdered brother, engaging both the police and the media. FIJ gathered that on the same night, the Amotekun unit and the Nigeria Police division in Eruwa jointly assigned their officers to him for protection.

“Thank God we were able to come to his rescue during the incident. We also had to offer him joint protection, together with the Nigeria Police, on the night of the incident,” said Adeshina Sunday Adewale, the Amotekun sector commander in Eruwa.

The commander also added that he had a meeting with his superiors on the incident on November 12, and it was decided that an officer be assigned to Olugbade for protection, starting from November 13.

When FIJ called Godwin Lawani, the Divisional Police Officer in charge of Eruwa, he said he was in a meeting and could not answer questions.

Foundation for Investigative Journalism

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