Ilorin: Retired works controller murdered on New Year’s Day

Ilorin: Retired works controller murdered on New Year’s Day

A shocking tragedy struck Ilorin, the capital of Kwara State, on New Year’s Day as AbdulRazaq Ajani, a retired controller of works at the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, was brutally murdered in his home.

The incident occurred shortly after he returned with his wife and children from a trip to his hometown, Offa.

The horrifying event unfolded around 3 p.m. at Dele Gege Street, off Awolowo Road, in the Tanke area of Ilorin. According to family members, four young men, aged between 18 and 22, entered the compound moments after Mr. Ajani and his family arrived.

CCTV footage from the scene revealed unsettling details. Two of the assailants were seen loitering outside the gate, with one sipping water from a plastic bottle, while the other two casually strolled into the compound. The retired officer, who was in one of the sitting rooms on the ground floor of his one-storey residence, noticed the strangers and rose to meet them at the main door.

“They appeared to be engaging him in a discussion until he was suddenly lying face down on the ground,” said one of the family members describing what he saw on the CCTV.

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The immediate family members reportedly watched in horror as the assassins hacked their father with what looked like small axes.

Their gruesome task accomplished, the assassins swiftly fled the scene before the howling of the family members drew the attention of neighbours.

When this reporter arrived at the house at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, the police had evacuated the body and left.

A few mourners and some family members sat in the main sitting room, a few metres from the blood-splattered corridor where the senior citizen was hacked to death by the assassins.

A civil engineer, Mr Ajani retired from the Federal Ministry of Works about four years ago but was said to have accepted a contract appointment at the ministry last year.

Neighbours in the quiet street spoke highly of him and his wife, who owns a popular confectionery, Reo Cakes, in Ilorin.

Toun Ejire-Adeyemi, the police spokesperson in Kwara State, said the police have begun investigations into the incident.

In a telephone conversation on Thursday morning, Mrs Ejire-Adeyemi said the police replied promptly to a distress call from the residence but the killers escaped before the arrival of officers.

“We will review the CCTV records and other evidence and bring those involved in the killing to justice,” she said.

 

Ilorin: Retired works controller murdered on New Year’s Day