By ALBERT AKPOR

The victim, Sabiru Adebowale

A Lagos-based industrialist, Saburi Adebowale, narrowly escaped being sent to the great beyond recently for disobeying orders from a gang of vicious armed robbers who wanted to snatch his vehicle. Mr. Saburi, th Managing Director of Ade-Sab Limited was in his Toyota Matrix bus marked GA 218 LND when the dare-devils accosted him at Prince bus- stop Ijegun, a suburb in Lagos metropolis and time was about 6.15am. Without an inkling of a lurking danger, Mr. Adebowale was said to have set off that ill-fated day to meet an early morning appointment only to be confronted by five gun- welding men with an order that he should come down and hand over the key to his car. The industrialist quickly pulled his car by the side as if he was obeying them but cleverly sped off, an action that jolted the bandits. The bandits quickly reacted by releasing bullets into his vehicle. Unfortunately for the industrialist, some of the pellets pierced his right eye socket. And not wanting to give up, the Ogun state- born father of four reportedly mustered courage, drove a few metres from the scene of crime and raised an alarm. He was later assisted by sympathisers who rushed him to a nearby hospital where doctors battled to extract the lodged pellets from his eye socket. The attack was immediately incidented at the Isheri -Osun Division where anti-robbery squad reportedly raced to the scene but the hoodlums had made good their escape.

Although it was not possible to speak with the victim, a family source that sought anonymity said it was the third, in less than two years that Mr. Adebowale would be attacked by armed robbers. “Ths is not the first time he would be attacked by robbers. It is just that this time around, the injury nearly snuffed life out of him. In less than two years, he had been robbed by these bad boys. I think he may have been saturated by these incessant attacks and decided to call their bluff and that would have cost him his life. From what we were told, that morning, he had appointment with one of his clients in Victoria Island and decided to leave home early enough to beat the usual traffic jam the area was noted for. So when he got to Prince bus stop, about five guys accosted him, asked him to wind down and hand over his key to them. As one who has always been a victim, he obeyed and attempted to park but sped off. The hoodlums chased after him and fired several shots into his vehicle. Some of the bullets pierced his eye socket and he had to abruptly stop and shouted for help. That was how he was rushed to the nearby hospital. But as I speak to you now, he is incommunicado because of the intensity of the injury. His family members and business associates are making frantic efforts to fly him overseas to ensure that he does not lose his sight,” the source said

The victim’s car

It was not possible to get the reaction of Lagos State Police Command Public Relations officer, Mr. Samuel Jinadu but a sources close to his office said the matter has since been referred to the State Criminal Investigations Department (SCID), Panti street, Yaba for further investigation. The source which also described Mr. Adebowale as a friend of the police said, “The police is taking the attack very seriously because the man in question is very helpful to us. He is what a true friend should be. He contributed to the building of the structures you see at some police divisions and even at the police public relations office. The police will do everything to unearth perpetrators of the heinous attack.”