'My son's death is a big relief for me' - Mother

Punch gathers that the 42-year-old woman, Toyin Akintayo, said her deceased son, Yusuf Azeez, was a thorn in her flesh and had brought shame and disgrace to the family following his incessant stealing, fighting, and other disdainful acts.

Narrating what led to the death of her son, Akintayo said she was the one that invited the vigilante group led by Quadri Adesina, to arrest her son after he had threatened to kill her with a knife and broken bottle but that he had suddenly attacked Adesina and was struggling for his gun when there was an accidental discharge with the bullet hitting Azeez.

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The woman said that on the day of the incident, Azeez had arrived at home at about 6pm and requested his dinner but when she explained to him that she didn’t have enough money to prepare a meal, he got mad at her and vowed to kill her that night.

Akintayo who sells confectionery and does not make much money said she gave the deceased N200 to buy food as that was all she could afford but he reportedly smashed a bottle on the ground and vowed to kill her.

“I wanted to break my fast on that day with garri when he arrived at home. I said there was no kerosene in the stove to prepare food for him and his younger brother.

I gave him N200 and the brother N70. He said the N200 was small and threw it at me. I explained to him that it was all I had and that we wouldn’t have been in the situation if he did not steal the compressor of my freezer, which I used to sell ice blocks.

I also advised him to find a job. He became angry and started threatening me with a knife and the shard of a bottle. He said he would not allow me to sleep at home that night and vowed to kill me.

I sneaked out to call members of a vigilance group besides our house. They followed me home and tried to pacify him.

He fought them and fought for the control of a gun that one of them carried. The gun exploded in the process and he was injured in the thigh. He died at a hospital near here.

His death is a relief to me and the family as I could no longer endure the shame his notoriety for stealing and street fighting had brought to the family.

I enrolled him in three different secondary schools, he dropped out. I took him to five different furniture experts to learn the work, he absconded.

He went into barbing; I gave him N85,000 to rent a shop and furnished it for him. He didn’t go to the shop until the rent expired.

He was too troublesome. There was a time he beat up an Oodua Peoples Congress member while we were living in Idimu (Lagos). I spent a lot of money on the man’s treatment.

A few weeks ago, he fought in Agege. He was seriously injured. He had been arrested many times by the police for several offenses.”

Akintayo added that her son’s gang members stormed her house following his death and threatened that she would pay for Azeez’s death.

However, 48-year-old Adesina has been arrested and is currently in detention at the Agbado Police Division, following the incident.

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The State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), ASP Abimbola Oyeyemi, has confirmed the incident, adding that the case has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Eleweran, Abeokuta, for proper investigation.