Surrounded by scores of sympathisers from near and far on Sunday afternoon, Mrs. Fatimo Koleosho, the distraught mother of Saubana, the deceased taxi driver shot dead by a Customs officer in Ogun State, refused to be consoled.
She stares into space, looking at no one in particular, far above the heads of people around her, with tears cascading down her cheeks.
Ill and partially paralysed, Madam Koleosho was lost in deep thought, probably wishing that the death of her 36-year-old son was just a nightmare she would soon wake up from and shake off.
She hopes to see her Saubana walk into the house any moment! But the reality of the loss of her son was brought home to her household by the abiding presence of sympatisers who have been milling around her since the incident occurred last week Wednesday.
Sitting silently a few metres away is her septuagenarian husband and father of the deceased taxi driver, Pa Salaudeen Koleosho, equally hemmed in on all sides by sympathisers, his eyes downcast.
Suddenly, the quiet but fidgety 65-year-old woman begins to wail. She stamps her partially paralysed feet on the ground and holds her head in her hands, crying out loud.
Asking no one in particular, she said, “My son was never a smuggler, why should they kill him like one? He was only doing his legitimate business of commercial transportation, why should they kill him? Please, when are they coming to kill me, too, because I cannot not live without my son! When are they coming to kill me, too? He’s a father of four and his wife is still nursing a four-month-old baby, how do I cope with this huge responsibility?
“You can see my condition, I cannot walk. My son was the only one taking care of me and the entire family. He was the breadwinner, providing food for us and also paying for my medical care. Now, government has decided to take his life, tell government that I may also die soon, unless they come and take care of me.
”Government should have mercy on me, it has been three years since I have been at home. I am sick and he was the one who has been taking care of me before this unfortunate incident happened.
So, government should ensure justice is done.” Ten days after the brutal killing of her son by an alleged trigger-happy Customs officer in the state, sympathisers have continued to throng the Oja Agbo, Abeokuta, home of the parents of the late taxi driver.
Saubana was shot dead by a Customs officer on Wednesday last week around Kobape in Obafemi Owode Local Government Area of the state while conveying three bags of rice, believed to be contraband items, in his taxi cab from the Kuto Market in Abeokuta.
After she was calmed down by sympathisers, Madam Koleosho, still sobbing silently, told The Point that her son was shot by the yet-tobe-identified Customs officer for no just cause.
She denied allegation by the Ogun State Command of the Nigeria Customs Service that her son was illegally conveying three bags of rice categorised as contrabands into the city before he was gunned down by one of its armed men.
Madam Koleosho said that though her son was a member of the Nigerian Union Road Transport Workers, he had never engaged himself in smuggling.
She explained that her son only carried in his cab three bags of rice from the Grammar School Garage in Abeokuta, where he had been operating his commercial transport business from on that fateful day.
The 65-yearold woman expressed regret that if she had had a premonition or dreamt about the incident that claimed her son’s life, or if a prophet had foretold of his untimely death, she would have persuaded him to stay away from work that day.
Madam Koleosho further lamented that the killing of her son, who was the bread winner of the family, came shortly after he promised to foot her N150,000 hospital bill for the treatment of an ailment that has affected one of her legs and had somehow incapacitated her in the past three years.
She explained further that her son, a father of four, would have given her the money to treat her injured leg long ago, but for a broken arm injury sustained by his third child, whose hospital bills he had to settle.
“He comes here every day to give me my feeding allowance. I have problem with my legs. I was taken to the hospital a year ago, where I was told that I would pay N150,000. He had promised to pay the money when his third child fell and had a broken arm.
So, because of the boy’s issue, he was unable to give me the money he promised, because he had spent a lot to make sure that his boy regained the use of his arm. But he had promised to pay the money this year, so that I could go to the hospital for treatment before I got this very bad news about his death,” Madam Koleosho said.
Speaking further, she said that her son had brought some books for one of his children living with her before he left for work on that fateful day and had also promised to pay the child’s school fees later, before his life was cut short by the bullets from the Customs officer’s gun.
“He doesn’t smoke and he doesn’t drink. He doesn’t carry contraband rice from the border, except from the garage, where he works. Before he left for work that very day, he came to my place early in the morning.
Not quite long after he left, I saw his younger brother, Rasak, rushing in and shouting ‘mama, mama!’ I asked what was the problem, why are you sweating, or have you gone to fight again?
He rushed towards me and gave me his phone, his phone range and he immediately took it back from me. He then told me that my son had been shot. My wrapper fell from me, I quickly rushed to the toilet to defecate and soon the wife of his younger brother came and said ‘they said Mistura’s daddy, Baba censor, was shot’.
I said gun shot? God forbid! Then I prayed to God that God would protect him,” Madam Kolesho said. The mother of the deceased taxi driver, however, appealed to the administration of Governor Ibikunle Amosun to come to the aid of her family in catering for the welfare of the four children and the wife left behind by her late son.
She also appealed to the governor to assist her financially to enable her to go for treatment of her injured leg, stressing that she had no other means of livelihood since the only child who had been taking care of her in the past three years that she had stopped working due to her health condition, has been killed.
“He was the one that had been providing for my daily needs, his child who fell and broke his arm is still with me. Since his death, I have been feeling the effect. I just have to accept my own fate, and I want you to help me to beg the state government to help me so that I won’t die in suffering.
He left four children and a wife. The government should please, not let me suffer. They should assist me with the upkeep of the four children that he left. Whatever the government can do to help the children and me to get treatment for my leg as well as other assistance they can render, they should, please, do it. I don’t have anyone to go to.
I only rely on God. He is the only one who had been taking good care of me. If I complain of anything about my health, he would not hesitate to come to my place and give me the necessary care,” she explained.
The late taxi driver’s father, Pa Koleosho, said that the sudden death of his son had brought great pains to him and the family, because he was the one only who had been providing for them.
“The government should, please, help me. I cannot live with the death of my son, it’s very painful,” he said. Speaking on the incident, the state Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Iliyasu, said that the police was on top of the situation, as it had already commenced detailed investigation into the matter.
”All other security agencies have concerns for the life and property of the citizens of this country. The state government, as well as other security agencies are on top of the situation.
All security agencies and government are having a discreet look at the situation and the issue is an issue that is being given proper attention by the government, so that the stability and peace of the state will continue to be guaranteed,” he said.
