By Ifeanyi Okolie

Four days after the killing of  retired Deputy Commissioner of Police, Pauline Agbonifo, at his Unity Estate, Egbeda residence, by some gunmen suspected to be assassins who stormed his home, members of the family are still  in shock as they are yet to come to terms with what has befallen them.

The gunmen, who were said to be four in number, were armed with Ak 47 rifles when they stormed his apartment around 8:00 pm on Tuesday, after they accosted his driver who had just driven into the compound in a car. They ordered him to take them to his boss who was in his bedroom at that time watching the Olympic Games. The driver refused and was beaten badly and left in a pool of his blood to die.

The assassins headed straight to the bedroom where they caught the ex-police chief and his wife seated and without wasting time, opened fire on him. They shot him twice on his legs, once on the right ribs and once on his back,  before  making away with a brief case and some mobile phones.

One of his sons, Eckowa Agbonifo, who wasn’t at home when the gunmen struck, was contacted and he rushed straight to Idimu Police station where he reported the incident to the Divisional Police Officer, Mr Ochuko Michael who mobilised his men and they rushed to the scene.

Unfortunately, when they arrived, the gunmen had fled and the retired DCP was found in a pool of  his  blood.  Though, concerted efforts were made to save his life as he was swiftly rushed to the Igando General Hospital, doctors and nurses, family sources alleged, responded nonchalantly to the dying man.

Consequently,His son and the DPO got upset and  rushed him to a nearby private hospital where he was confirmed dead. This has, however, left members of his family pondering over what may have triggered such a barbaric killing of a man whom they described as ‘easy-going and peaceful.’

Late DCP, Agbonifo

Though the Police in Lagos State said a full  investigation was being carried out with a view to unravelling the circumstances surrounding the killing,  but relatives of the deceased are upbeat that their brother and father wasn’t  into anything shady.

Eckowa Agbonifo, who spoke with Crime Guard during a visit to their residence, said: “My father was neither a politician nor a businessman.  He was a pilot. In fact, he was the first Nigeria Police pilot before he retired in 1991 as a DCP and went to work for the Pan-African Airline.

After that, he opened his own firm, R.E.X Group of Companies, and later, he worked for the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority.  You can see he was not a politician, and he never interfered in politics.  He was not a trouble maker.  Everyone who knew him very well can attest to that.  He minded his business and he was lovable.

I see no reason why any one will want to kill him.  We are appealing to the Police to find his killers and bring them to justice,” he pleaded.  Narrating how he got the news of his father’s killing and the efforts he made to save his life, Eckowa said: “I was at the car wash that Tuesday night when I got a call that some armed robbers were in our house. I quickly drove to the Police station and I met with the DPO and reported the incident to him.

I thought they were robbers at that time and the DPO immediately ordered some of his men to follow us but when we arrived at our house, the robbers had gone and we went upstairs and found my father lying in a pool of his blood and my mother was in shock.

It was like she was attacked by the robbers as well. I checked my father and I discovered that he was still breathing. We (the DPO and I) then rushed him to Igando General Hospital, which was close to our house.  But the doctors and nurses at that hospital were terrible.

They didn’t show any form of concern to my dying father even when we told them that it was an emergency and he was losing so much blood from his bullet wounds.  They didn’t care at all; they were busy doing other things. But we decided to take him out Instead of watching him die in the hands of uncaring doctors ; we took him to a nearby private hospital where he was confirmed dead.

It’s pathetic to know the way some doctors would play with the lives of dying patients in this country, government needs to look into this, and help us out. My father was a good man, we will miss him dearly.

Meanwhile, the 46-year-old driver of the deceased, Augustine told Crime Guard he escaped narrowly from being killed by the gunmen when they accosted him at the gate.

“One of them came to me while I was trying to lock the gate after driving in and he said ‘excuse me, can I ask you a question?’ I stopped and the next thing I saw was an AK 47 rifle and he asked me not to shout or he would shoot me but all he needed was for me to cooperate.

Then one other person showed up and ordered me to lie on the ground and I obeyed. Then they asked me to take them to my boss and I refused; immediately, one of them hit me on the head with his rifle and I started to bleed, then they all started beating me.

They dragged me to the staircase and one of them said they should tie me to the step but before they could do that, I pushed the one in front of me and ran away. I jumped the fence and I alerted all the security men in our area to lock all the street gates. Those of them who had guns started shooting.  But after a while, I collapsed on the ground because I had lost so much blood and I was taken to the hospital where I was treated. I am even still receiving treatment,” he narrated.

When asked where he was coming from when the gunmen accosted him he said; “On that day, I didn’t work with Oga, I worked with madam. Another driver drove Oga to work that day and when I returned home with madam around 5:00pm, we met Oga in the house. Madam also gave me pepper soup to give to Oga and we drank a bottle of wine together. But around 7:00pm, they asked me to drop off a visitor that came to visit and I did so.

It was after I had parked the car and was going to close the gate that one of the gunmen met me at the gate. I have no hand in it, I have worked for Oga for over 20 years and he is very close to me.

When contacted, spokesperson for the Lagos State Police Command, Mrs. Ngozi Braide, confirmed the killing, stating that the command is doing everything to track down the killers. She also assured that the police will get the killers.