*Killers left clues – NMA
*Claims are premature – Police

Dayo Johnson, Akure

THE death of a former Acting Medical Director of the Federal Medical Centre, FMC, Dr David Oguntuase, in a mysterious fire incident on Christmas day has pitted the police against the family of the deceased and his colleagues in the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA).

“The puzzle to be resolved is whether the death of Oguntuase was accidental or was by hired assassins.“While the police are still busy examining the different theories and leads to unraveling the cause of the fire that gutted the doctor’s clinic and in which the body of the 52-year-old deceased was found, family has concluded that the medical practitioner was killed by assassins and his body burnt to give a semblance of a fire accident.“

In fact, the police are at the receiving end as knocks keep coming from left, right and centre for its alleged lackadaisical attitude to unravel the circumstances surrounding the death of the consultant paediatrician in his Universal Medical Clinic, located at Araromi area of Akure metropolis.“Fighting back, the Ondo State Police Command said that it would not be stampeded by the family or the professional colleagues of the deceased. “

In an interview with Sunday Vanguard, the police command image maker, Wole Ogodo, said: “We   are not bothered by the insinuations of both parties. All we know is that the medical doctor was consumed in the inferno.“” We are still investigating the matter and we will come out open after the completion of the investigation”, Ogodo said.“

” Police investigation can not be made public. We can only tell the public after we conclude the investigation. Let the family and the NMA allow us to do our job.“”As soon as we have evidence, we can assure the public that we will not hesitate to do our part conscientiously,” “But the family of the deceased doctor and the NMA are seeing the scenario differently.“Oguntuase’s wife, Ifeyinwa, who also works in the FMC, Owo as a social worker, told Sunday Vanguard that she received the last phone call from her husband at about 6.42pm on Christmas eve asking her on the need to shop for some basic provisions before dark because of the holiday period.

“Ifeyinwa said her husband left home in the evening without his car which was under repair at a mechanic site, and did not return home before the family went to sleep.“According to her, because of the nature of his job as a medical doctor, he often returned home late and sometimes will not return home if he had a case at the hospital, but he would notify her.“She noted that Oguntuase was earlier robbed of his phones and other valuables the previous Saturday in the same area where his clinic is located.

“Ifeyinwa recounted the travails of her husband at the FMC, Owo, as he was interrogated by the police on the allegation of plotting with others to assassinate the Medical Director.“The wife, who said she had been married to the late doctor for two decades, explained that they have three children: Ifedayo, 18; Temitope, 14 and Oluwatoyin, 11.“

“For all I know, my husband was gruesomely murdered and I want justice for him,” she stated.“”My husband was not a careless person, he was very meticulous and knew how to put things in their place. He was not lazy.“”He was simple and forthright. He used his clinic for charity. The clinic did not bring money to the house. He used his salary to pay his workers. He was kind hearted and selfless.“”I know they (police) can do something if they want to. They should find the killers at least to prove my confidence in them.”

“Also, the deceased’s elder brother, Otunba Ben Oguntuase, said his brother “was murdered in cold blood”.“Ben Oguntuase, in a statement made available to newsmen, said his brother “was brutally murdered by assassins/arsonists, leaving behind a most gory sight.”“He said a thorough examination of the charred remains of the hospital and the site of the incident revealed trails left behind by the murderers and how they accomplished the dastardly act.“

“Evidently, they shot him in the main clinic area and carried his body to the room in the back area where the left him face down. Not done, they severed his hands and legs before proceeding to douse the body with petrol,”the Senior Oguntuase stated.“”The rest of the building on the inside was sprinkled with petrol before it was all set ablaze. It obviously was an inferno that raged leading the building to implode as the roof caved inward.”“He noted that the fire did not affect other buildings around suggesting that it was professionally plotted and executed.

“Ben Oguntuase alleged that the walls of the clinic were stained with blood showing that he was attacked and dragged to the place where he was eventually burnt.“The brother also explained that the walls of the fence showed marks of the feet of the assailants as they climbed to escape through the fence, and the keg with which they brought the petrol was left behind at their exit point.“While giving an insight into the travails of the deceased, the senior Oguntuase said he had been having issues with the management of the FMC, Owo.

“According to him, ” just last month, he was arrested over the allegation of planning to kill the Medical Director of the hospital.“He rejected the theories of suicide or fire accident caused by a gas explosion, saying the body was dismembered before it was set ablaze, and there was enough evidence at the crime scene to assist the investigation of the police.“While calling  on the police to be forthcoming and expedite action on the investigation, he pointed out that the cruelty of the act should be enough to gear the police to get to the bottom.

“The NMA, Ondo State chapter also said it established leads to the fact that Oguntuase was murdered before he was set ablaze by assassins.“The Chairman of the state chapter of the association, Dr. Betiku Bamidele, asked the police to do its job and get to the root of the matter as it would resist any attempt to sweep the case under the carpet.“’Crime scene compromised’“Bamidele lamented the poor handling of the crime scene by the police, saying the scene had been a free for all site, an act that could compromise the body of evidence.“

“The scene of the incident was initially a free for all to come in and out of the premises before concerted efforts were made by the NMA on the police to cordon off the environment such that the abundance of evidence be adequately utilized,”the NMA boss said.“”The manner of evacuation of the burnt body from the scene was to say the least unscrupulous with a considerable likelihood to compromise the results of investigations.“

“As if this was not vexatious  enough, the scene, which apparently was cordoned off following intensive efforts by the NMA, was not the case when it was subsequently visited (even up till yesterday at 4pm).“”The press release by the PPRO of Ondo State Police Command, Mr. Wole Ogodo, narrowed the incidence to electricity surge even when the neighbors confirmed that there was no electricity supply at the time of the incidence.”

“Bamidele noted that the statement by the police was suspicious, as the police was yet to carry out any preliminary investigations before issuing a statement.“He also faulted the call by the police for the family of Oguntuase to furnish it with any evidence on the matter, arguing that it was the duty of the police to look for evidence in a case of murder of assassination like this one.“

“The question is, have the police done all their investigations on the scene or perhaps waiting for the family of our late colleague to produce evidence?,”the NMA boss stated. “”The body was dismembered on the upper and lower limbs and the area of the silhouette was still somewhat wet and one of the small bones of the foot was found on the floor.“

“The room where the body was had a burglary of its window destroyed (the only one noted to be so).“”There were two empty gas cylinders which were intact. We were also reliably informed that there was no power supply throughout the night of the incidence and the generator was intact.”

“The NMA Chairman also noted that Oguntuase had asked the night duty nurse to leave since it was Christmas eve and there were no patients in the ward.“Bamidele added that this was not the first time the deceased did that since the clinic was usually run on out-patient basis.“He drew the police’s attention to the recent questioning of the deceased following a petition by the Medical Director of the FMC, Owo, Olufemi Omotoso, on allegation of threat to his life.“

“The question again is, what have the police done with this allegation especially now that one of those on the list has been involved in a strange circumstances of fire accident.”“The NMA demanded that the report of the allegation of threat to life and property should be produced.“