A school gardener, simply identified as Femi Aderounmu, has allegedly killed a Senior Secondary School pupil of Jubril Martins Memorial College, Iponri Lagos, for disrespecting him.
The 15 years old deceased, Rafiu Adagun, was reportedly ambushed and brutalised by the school Gardner at Olaleye Oke-Olu Street, very close to Iponri bridge.
It was reported that Aderounmu and Adagun who is writing the ongoing West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) had a minor disagreement which had been settled by the school authorities earlier.
However, another incident angered the gardener who vowed to deal with the WAEC student for being rude to him, the Nation reports.
A source in the school said: “On the 15th of May after writing Literature exam, he (Rafiu) was on his way to prepare for his elder brother’s child’s naming.
“So, the gardener to the school called him and his fellow colleague back that the principal asked them (SSS 3 students) to stay behind then.
“The late Rafiu Adagun replied why should he wait since he was through with my exam? Then the gardener started beating him.
“So, they called the attention of the teachers and they settled the rift. Later, the students were playing that who was older between Rafiu and one other male student and Rafiu said the latter was older than him so the gardener started beating him that he was being rude to him.
“He (gardener) later went to lay ambush for Rafiu, beating him, ran after him, tore his clothes and hit his head against the wall so hard till Rafiu became unconscious.
“So, his friends and some teachers tried rushing him to the hospital but he had died before they got to the health centre”.
The deceased elder brother, Ademola Adagun, alleged that the school authority tried covering up for the death of the pupil by saying he slumped and died.
He said they didn’t inform their parents about the incidence until one of the students contacted Rafiu’s cousin to tell him the incident.
Ademola Adagun said “I was called upon by my late brother’s friend who narrated everything that ensued between him and the school’s gardener.
“According to report, Rafiu and the gardener have been having several rifts before the last one that took his life.
“But to my amazement, the gardener denied this, calling our late brother his friend. I don’t know how on earth our late brother would befriend a criminal like him.
“At first, the school lied to us that Rafiu fainted while coming out of the exam hall. How did we get to know they were lying?
“My cousin saw bruises on his body and neck, his school uniform, singlet, trouser were all torn. All these periods the gardener was pretentiously with us.
“So, my cousin saw one of the students at the scene and asked how it happened. The boy said the gardener went to Oke-Olu street (where the gardener lives) to wait for them and started punching him.
“He banged his head on the wall three times, he even tried to escape but the gardener ran after him and punched him harder before he fell.
“The boy further said they told the gardener to carry him but he said he will beat him if he stands up again and if any of them says anything, he will do the same to them.”
He added: “We were told by the students that they had to rush him to the school clinic where he was given pain relief injection and died.
“But when the school authority noticed he was dead, they took him to that Smith hospital, where he was confirmed dead on arrival.
“So, my cousin confronted the school authority by narrating what he learnt from those at the scene and told them to stop covering the criminal.
“They said the gardener punched him once and he fell and was rushed to Smith hospital. They didn’t mention the school clinic.
“After hearing the aforementioned from my cousin, we were told it didn’t happen in the school premises. I was vexed but that wasn’t what was doing me at the moment.
“We later heard from the principal that they’ve taken the culprit to the police station.
“But that wasn’t the case, they actually kept the guy in the police station because of the cordial relationship they have with the policemen at the said station.
“On hearing that, the DPO was furious with the policemen in his station. He requested for the statements. That was when we knew they wrote statement for us.
“They were about releasing him the next day when we got there with our lawyer. That was when we realised that the DPO was not aware that a murderer has been in the station since a day before.
“The DPO tore the statements and requested for real statement about the incident.
Ademola, said the death of his brother is strange and pathetic adding that “I wake up every day thinking I’ll see him by my side.”
The cousin to the deceased, Lanre Adagun, described the late Rafiu as gentle and urged that the culprit should face the full wrath of the law.
