A 15-year-old girl, Sarah Ibikunle was gunned down during a dense shoot out between a gang of armed bandits and some police men at the Lekki-Ikoyi Bridge in Lagos state on Thursday, March 12, 2105.
The deceased teenager who was hit by a stray bullet was hawking fried fish along the road before the sad incident occurred.
The young girl had a dream of furthering her education and studying Law in order to become a very successful lawyer.
Now the promising youn girl’s dreams have been cut short and the Lagos state governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola is busy blaming President Goodluck Jonathan in what has been regarded as irresponsible statement for the melee which broke out after the assailants attacked a bank in Lekki Phase 1 and ran into the police in their escape bid.
Ibikunle’s aunt who identified herself as Mrs. Omolafe, on Saturday, March 14, 2015 disclosed that the deceased was abandoned by her mother when she was just two years old.
Three yet-to-be identified policemen among the police team who stumbled into the thieves were also shot dead in the encounter.
Punch disclosed that one of the deceased homework on drawing which she intended to submit on Friday, March 13, 2015 was captioned, “I want to be a lawyer.”
She said, “Ibikunle was very friendly. She was living in Ondo State with my grandmother till she (the grandmother) died.
“I brought her to Lagos four years ago to start school. Her mother left her and her siblings when she was two years old and she had never looked after them since then. Her father (my brother) died in 2009.”
“On Wednesday, she showed me the drawing which she wanted to submit on Friday. She said her class was told to draw what they wish to become in future. I prayed for her and warned her not to keep bad company if she wanted to accomplish her goal.
“She was always eager to learn English. She watched English movies a lot because of that. She and my son help me to hawk when they come back from school.”
The bereaved family lamented the heavy bill charged by the Yaba Mortuary, where the victim’s remains were deposited.
“As if the loss is not enough, we were told to bring almost N100, 000 to embalm and bury her. They should have allowed me to carry her corpse that day. I don’t know where to get the money,” the bereaved aunt lamented.
Meanwhile, the Lagos State Police spokesperson, DSP Kenneth Nwosu, disclosed that the state commissioner of police, Kayode Aderanti, had ordered all the area commanders to intensify efforts at tracking down the hoodlums who had escaped shortly after the attack.
