Night Guard Kills Self While Trying to Scare off Hoodlums

A night guard in the Ebute-Meta axis of Lagos, Ogundare Ekundayo, shot himself dead while trying to scare away thieves.

The norm is that right about when they are rounding off work, the night guards will shoot into the air in an attempt to scare prospective thieves away, a norm he would have avoided if only he knew.

Although it isn’t something he is new to, this would be the last time Ogundare Ekundayo would ever shoot as it backfired on him when the bullet hit an object and bounced back towards him, hitting him right in the head .

His colleague, Raimi, who was also on duty on that day, ran to him upon hearing the shot and found Ekundayo dead.

Sadly, the police arrested Raimi for the incident but he tried to prove he was indeed innocent.

He said, “I have known the deceased for some time now. He was my boss; he recruited me into the vigilance group, but we were employed by the community.

“There were three of us guarding Osholanke Street, but the third person did not come that day because he was ill.

“My master (Ekundayo) and I were together, but when it was getting to 4am, he went down the street alone.

“I suddenly heard a shot from his gun and I rushed there only to see he had mistakenly shot himself dead.”

However, the police are investigating how the guards came to be in possession of guns in the first place saying that they were not properly trained on how to use a gun.

According to a police source, they had no business being with guns in the first place.

He said, “The man was not trained to use a gun. He did not handle it well and when he opened fire, apparently to tell the residents they were done for the day and to scare any thief, the bullet hit him instead.

“But one thing that is also not clear is how the man and his team had access to a gun. We are investigating all these.”