I may never vote again, says father of 25-yr-old slain election victim

…My husband died with great plans for our daughter – Wife The violence that erupted during the penultimate Saturday presidential election in the Gege area of Ibadan has thrown the family of a 25-year-old man, Monsuru Hamsat, into mourning and sorrowing. Monsuru was shot to death at a polling centre in the area by some […]

…My husband died with great plans for our daughter – Wife

The violence that erupted during the penultimate Saturday presidential election in the Gege area of Ibadan has thrown the family of a 25-year-old man, Monsuru Hamsat, into mourning and sorrowing.

Monsuru was shot to death at a polling centre in the area by some yet-to-be-identified gunmen during the election.

His crestfallen father, Wasiu Hamzat, a commercial driver, was a sorry sight last Thursday lamenting the poor security architecture of the country as he wondered whether it was a crime for Nigerians to fulfil their civic right.

Speaking with Eko Trust at Oniru House, near Arapaja compound, Ibadan, where Monsuru was killed by gunmen, the elder Hamsat said the hoodlums arrived the polling unit shortly after the voting exercise and started shooting sporadically.

He said a female traffic warden deployed to man the polling unit was helpless and could, of course, not stop the masked gunmen as they embarked on the shooting spree.

According to him, his son, an apprentice trader at the Ogunpa market, was waiting for sorting of votes and announcement of the election result when the hoodlums stormed the polling booth to disrupt the process.

He narrated his experience, “We were all at the polling unit awaiting sorting and counting of the votes when we heard gunshots. Everyone started running for their dear lives, but my son was hit by the bullets. He wasn’t the only one affected with bullets, but it was unfortunate that the attack led to his death.

“The bullets hit him in eight places in his body and before we could rush him to a nearby hospital, he gave up. About four to five other persons were also victims of stray bullets but they survived the shooting.”

Speaking on the relationship with his son, Hamzat said, “I could not do without seeing him every day. If I haven’t seen him, I would call him on phone to ask of his whereabouts. And if he had gone to the market, I would have peace of mind with the hope I would see him in the evening. Monsuru was an easy-going boy.”

He added it was the love his son had for his family that informed his decision to register to vote in the area of his parents’ residence. “We were not living together. He lived at Olomi. He only came here that day because of the election. His polling unit was here, because this place is our family house and he loved coming to see his people often. He actually trekked from Olomi to this place to vote on the day of the incident.

“I encouraged him to vote because government said every citizen should fulfil their civic responsibility. Now, who will hear what happened on that sad day – the shooting and all  –  and would still want to venture out to vote?

“There was no premonition of his death. In fact, he was even the one assisting everyone with the card verification process. He was playing with everyone that day.

“When the incident happened, we hastened to rush him to the hospital to remove the bullets in his body, but he gave up the ghost inside the vehicle. Eight bullets for a young man were too many, when he wasn’t a bush meat,” he added.

Stressing it wasn’t that his family members were turning beggars from the tragedy that had befallen them, Hamzat said they would welcome any assistance from the government as the slain man left behind a wife and eight months old baby that needed to be catered for.

But Monsuru’s death remains a mystery to Ayoka. She recalled how her husband had called her on the phone about 4pm to inform her he was eating, whereas, as she was told, he had died two hours earlier. “I cannot explain his death. It is a rude shock to me,” she said.

The widow, who is nursing an eight-month-old baby, said the death of her husband had created a vacuum in her life. “He was always talking about the great plans he had for this daughter of ours,” she said, pointing to the baby in her laps. “Now all that is gone. He has died with his plans,” she sobbed.