■ Police hold two suspects

BY CHIOMA IGBOKWE

It happened in Iyana Ishashi, along the Lagos-Badagry expressway. Mr. Barry Ndulue, a middle-aged man was coming back from a business trip to Ghana on Sunday, September 20, 2015. Unknown to him, he was being trailed, according to police ac­counts. Once he got to that lonely part of the expressway, the assailants lev­eled up and began to shoot into the car he was travelling in. When the op­eration ended, Barry, a businessman based in Germany, lay dead in the pool of his own blood.

Curiously, neither the driver of the chattered car nor his (Barry) business partner, identified as Paul Obioma Nn­ago, with whom he was travelling, was hurt in the bizarre, tragic incident. Sur­prisingly also, the unknown gunmen took only the phones of the occupants of the car and fled the scene.

Already, the Lagos State Police Crimi­nal Investigation Department (SCID), Panti, has commenced investigation into the death of the businessman and father of three.

When Saturday Sun visited the resi­dence of the deceased at 401 road, Fes­tac Town Lagos, family and friends kept trooping in and out of the house to con­done with the family. His widow was seen surrounded by her mother and im­mediate relatives who kept consoling her. His first son who was obviously shattered by the news of the death of his father sat at a corner of the house battling to control tears. The other two who are between the ages of two and five, took it upon them­selves to open the door for sympathizers. Obviously oblivious of what was going on, the two kids, instead of sharing in the gloom, were rather cheering them up by playing around them.

The late Ndulue’s mother in-law who spoke on behalf of the family pleaded that they would decide as a family before they could share the details of the matter with the public. “We know that the world will like to hear our story but it is also impor­tant for my daughter to consult with the family before taking to the press”, she stated.

One of the relatives who spoke with Saturday Sun but chose to remain anony­mous said that he would get the consent of the elders of the family before talking to the press. “At the moment we do not want to talk to the media without the consent of my elder brother. You can go to the police and get all the details of the mat­ter. The two persons who were with him in the car are currently in police custody. We are not suspecting anyone especially his friend who was arrested. He lives on the same street and they have done a lot of things together. We pray that the police will quickly conclude their investigation so that we can bury our late brother. May his gentle soul rest in peace.”

Describing him as a simple man, one the neighbours said that Barry returned to Nigeria less than a week before the inci­dent. “He has been away for the past eight months. He was a very quiet person that prefers to stay indoors with his beautiful kids anytime that he was in Nigeria.”

On the possible reason why Paul and the driver are being detained, a senior po­lice officer at SCID Panti said that it was necessary to be sure that the duo were not the mastermind of the murder. “We hope to unravel the reason why Barry was killed while his friend Paul and the chat­tered car driver were left unhurt. Why did the assailants pick only their phones? There is a prob­ability that one of them alerted the assassins of their present location and to hide the person’s identity their phones were taken.

“The Homicide section of the SCID after analyzing their call log will be able to determine their involve­ment in the matter. We will be able to uncover what happened and if they were not indicted, they will be released.”

Confirming the attack, the state Police Public Rela­tions Officer, DSP Joe Offor said: “We learnt that he (Barry) was returning to Nigeria through Seme border when he was attacked by unknown gunmen. His body had been deposited in the mortuary while the case is currently being investigated by detectives at­tached to the state CID, Panti.”

He assured that the suspects, who are cur­rently in detention, will be released as soon as it is confirmed that they are innocent.

ijustdey:
this is a case of assassination





something like business gone bad....