The widow of the slain Ibadan journalist, Mrs. Olubunmi Peters,has narrated how her late husband,Ojo Peters was killed by armed robbers at Oke-Ado area of Ibadan on August 18.
She gave the graphic account of the ugly event on Friday when a delegation of Sat Guru Maharaj Ji paid a condolence visit to the late journalist’s residence at Siba area of Apata, Ibadan.
She said the late journalist was shot three times by armed robbers who followed him on a motorcycle from the bank, where he had gone to withdraw N10,000 on that fateful day.
According to her, the late journalist boarded a motorcycle immediately after coming out of the bank at Oke-Ado around 2 pm, as he wanted to meet up with an appointment at Molete area.
She said from as soon as her husband alighted from the bike, a two-man armed robbery gang, who had trailed him to the spot on another bike, also stopped and accosted him.
She added: “We were told that one of the robbers came down from the bike and demanded that my husband give him the cross bag he was carrying. As a man, my husband initially challenged the audacity of the robber, but when the robber showed him a gun, he voluntarily gave the cross bag to him.
“Immediately the armed robber collected the cross bag, he threw it to the other one on the bike. Ojo wanted to run away from the scene, but the armed robber released a bullet and shot him three times in the stomach.
“I was told that my husband fell into a drainage as he was struggling to call for help. There was nobody to rescue him, as everybody had run for safety. It was after over an hour that people came back to the scene and found him grappling with life. Nobody could touch him because of the fear of police case.
“They had to call the police. By the time the police arrived, my husband had lost a lot of blood; they met him holding his stomach where the bullets hit him. They arranged to take him to a nearby hospital, but before getting to the hospital, he gave up the ghost.
“That is how they suddenly turned me into a widow. My husband left home going for his duties as a journalist; I didn’t know that I wouldn’t see him again. He was the breadwinner of the family; he has now left our two daughters for me.
“He loved his children so much; he wanted the best for them. Now, he is no more. I’m only helping someone to sell day-old chicks at Obasanjo Farm on Mondays and Thursdays. The Oyo State Government should please come to our aid; the Oyo NUJ should please assist the family he has left behind.”
She appealed to the Oyo State Government and the Oyo State Council of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) her family during the current period.
The late journalist’s widow said the gruesome killing of her husband has left the family in deep emotional and financial distress, calling for help from the state government and the NUJ
