By Wole Balogun, Ado-Ekiti
For Aina Taiwo Benjamin, 17 and student of Igogo-Ekiti Commercial Secondary School, Moba Local Government Area of Ekiti State, the tragic phrase, “sunset at dawn” aptly applies. It captures his brief lifetime as he was caught down in a gruesome manner when hit by bullet from a gunshot, allegedly fired by a mobile police a few days ago.
The “heartless bullet” pierced through Taiwo, after hitting the poor boy from his chest, escaped through his back, and eventually dispatched him into an early grave. Minutes after the gunshot from a yet-to-be identified trigger-happy officer, Taiwo was lain still, motionless and stone dead in front of his father’s house in Igogo-Ekiti.
His twin sister, Kehinde, ran to their parents to announce his death, “Daddy, mummy!!! They have killed Taiwo, the police have killed Taiwo”, the innocent kid told their bewildered parents.
Mr. Matthew Aina, Taiwo’s aged father fought hard from breaking down while narrating the gruesome murder of his son to Governor Ayodele Fayose recently at the Governor’s Office, Ado-Ekiti:
“My son, Taiwo, was gunned down by armed mobile policemen who were detailed to restore calm in our community after the alleged attack on a herdsman by about 100 youths in our community.
“The mobile policemen in their rage shot sporadically in the air, probably to disperse the hoodlums said to be causing mayhem in the community.
“In the process, my son who was returning home from school that afternoon was hit by a bullet which pierced through his body and later left him dead in the pool of his won blood. This is really painful for me and my family and we can never recover from it.”
Moved by the plight of the poor father, the governor promptly made a pledge of giving him N5 million to cushion the effect of the painful loss:
“It is quite unfortunate that the Aina family of Igogo had to lose their child, Taiwo, to the recent crisis that tore through the community. We commiserate with the family of the slain boy and assure them that as a government we will ensure the security operatives investigate this matter and bring to book the mobile policeman who allegedly shot the poor boy.
“Meanwhile, we are giving the family of the slain boy a sum of N5 million to cushion the effect of the loss.”
The governor directed the state Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Chafe, to urgently investigate and fish out the trigger-happy officer whose bullet killed Taiwo.