Fifteen-year-old Sarah Ibikunle, a fried
fish hawker, who was killed by a stray bullet around the Lekki area of
Lagos State on Thursday during a bank robbery, had an ambition to become
a lawyer.
The deceased’s aunt, who identified herself as Mrs. Omolafe, told SUNDAY PUNCH on
Saturday that Ibikunle was eager to study Law after her secondary
education, adding that she was abandoned by her mother when she was two
years old.
Ibikunle, who lived with her aunt on
Babalola Close in the area, was brutally killed on Thursday by a gang of
robbers, who stormed a branch of FCMB on Admiralty Way, Lekki Phase 1,
on the fateful day.
The victim was hawking fried fish after she returned from school before a bullet hit her.
On Friday, about 13 armed robbers in
military uniform, came through a waterway in the area and laid siege to
the bank, shooting sporadically for about 30 minutes.
Three policemen, whose names were yet to
be ascertained, and Ibikunle were shot dead during the
shooting. The
cops were said to be part of a police team, which stumbled on the
rampaging bandits while they were escorting a bus belonging to an oil
company.
When our correspondent visited the
deceased’s family on Saturday, the atmosphere was still solemn.
Sympathisers were seen trooping in to their residence to offer
condolences.
Our correspondent was shown a drawing
given as homework to the deceased by one of her teachers. Therein, she
drew an image with a caption “I want to be a lawyer.”
Amidst tears, Omolafe said the family’s
grief was compounded by the bill charged by the Yaba Mortuary, where the
victim’s remains were deposited.
Omolafe said, “Ibikunle was very
friendly. She was living in Ondo State with my grandmother till she (the
grandmother) died. I brought her to Lagos four years ago to start
school. Her mother left her and her siblings when she was two years old
and she had never looked after them since then. His father (my brother)
died in 2009.”
“On Wednesday, she showed me the
drawing, which she wanted to submit on Friday. She said her class was
told to draw what they wished to become in future. I prayed for her and
warned her not to keep bad company if she wants to accomplish her goal.
She was always eager to learn English. She watched English movies a lot
because of that. She and my son help me to hawk when they come back from
school.
“As if the loss is not enough, we were
told to bring almost N100, 000 to embalm and bury her. They should have
allowed me to carry her corpse that day. I don’t know where to get the
money.”
The Lagos State Police spokesperson, DSP
Kenneth Nwosu, said the state Commissioner of Police, Kayode Aderanti,
had ordered all the area commanders to intensify efforts at tracking
down the bandits.
Source: The Punch
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