UNILAG Student Shot Dead By Armed Robbers While Attempting To Retrieve His Friend’s Stolen Phone

A 23-year-old student of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) identified simply as Adekunle, was shot dead by armed robbers while trying to retrieve his friend’s stolen phone. 

The incident happened at Harvey Road, Moore Road Junction, in the Yaba area of the state on Saturday, June 3, 2023.

According to Punch, Adekunle and his school mate identified simply as Opeyemi boarded a shuttle bus from Yaba to UNILAG and while in the vehicle, a man, who was hanging at the back of the bus, dispossessed Opeyemi of her iPhone 7 plus. 

Opeyemi raised the alarm and Adekunle, in a desperate attempt to retrieve the phone from the robber who jumped down from the bus and fled, pursued him.

Realising that Adekunle was closing in on the suspect, one of the hoodlums suspected to be working with the fleeing suspect appeared from nowhere and shot the student. 

Speaking with the publication on Monday, June 5, an eyewitness who does not want his name mentioned for security reasons, said the robber’s accomplice shot Adekunle in the head, adding that the undergraduate died on the spot.

“The incident happened on June 3 around 9pm. What happened was that someone shot the deceased at a close range on the left side of his head and he died on the spot. An ATM card found on him bears the name Adekunle,” the witness explained. 

“Later on, we gathered from a girl that gave her name as Opeyemi, who claimed to be a student of Business Administration, UNILAG, that she and the deceased, whom she knew as a student of UNILAG, boarded a shuttle bus from Yaba and were heading to UNILAG when she got dispossessed of her iPhone 7 Plus by a thief hanging at the back of the bus,” 

She said the deceased attempted to help by pursuing the robber but in the process, another group of persons came out and one of them shot him at a close range on the left side of his head and he died on the spot.”

It was gathered that policemen, who arrived at the scene later, evacuated Adekunle’s corpse and deposited it at the morgue of the Mainland Hospital.

The spokesperson for the police in the state, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, who confirmed the incident said the command had commenced an investigation to track down the suspects behind the attack.

“The deceased was a UNILAG student. The suspects are being trailed for possible arrest and the command has contacted the victim’s relatives. The case has been transferred to the SCID, Panti, for discreet investigation,” he said.