Controversy trails Lagos man’s death

Controversy has been trailing the death of a resident of the Alakuko–Meji area of Lagos, identified as Taoreed, alias Balinga, who reportedly died at a hospital on Tuesday.

In separate interviews ,some residents of the community alleged that he was beaten by a local gang leader identified as Oscar over a business-related dispute.

While an associate of the accused insisted the deceased died of an existing health condition, the Ogun State Police Command said it was not aware of Taoreed’s death.

The development followed a post shared by a popular anti-cult blog, Naija Contra, via X on Thursday.

The blog had reported that a suspected Eiye cult leader popularly known as Oscar in the Sango Otta axis of Ogun State sent some boys to beat up one of his young cultists identified as Taoreed Balinga, leading to his death.

According to the post, Balinga, who lived in the Alakuko area on the Lagos–Ogun border, had handled a business transaction said to be worth $61,000.

The blog claimed that after the two men shared over $50,000, the client refused to pay the remaining $11,000.

But Balinga later secured an extra $1,000 from the client without telling his supposed godfather, which someone later revealed to Oscar.

The post stated that Oscar sent his boys to fetch Balinga, and later went himself when the young man refused to follow them.

It is alleged that Balinga, who already had health issues, was slapped, forced into the boot of Oscar’s car, and beaten until he could not walk.

He was reportedly released on Monday, developed severe pains that night, and died in the early hours of Tuesday after being rushed to the hospital.

When our correspondent visited the Alakuko area on Friday, two community sources confirmed the incident but said Oscar and Balinga were not cultists.

One of the residents, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of being attacked, said Oscar was regarded as the leader of thugs and agberos who collect levies from motorcyclists and other transport operators in the Toll Gate area and its surroundings.

The person I just called is one of Oscar’s strong boys at Toll Gate. From the way he responded while we spoke, that thing truly happened.

It was only recently that Oscar himself bought a new Lexus 300 Jeep. I’m sure it was that car they used to run the operation. We were all surprised he could buy such a big car because we are all on the streets, and nothing much is coming in that can give you that kind of money.

“I have been outside since morning, and I haven’t made up to N5,000. So, it’s very possible he got the money from the deal,” he added.

The second source, a roadside technician in the area, also confirmed that Oscar and the deceased had a disagreement linked to a small business transaction.

He explained that tensions rose after Oscar reportedly felt deceived over the handling of the money, which led to the confrontation at the young man’s home.

“All we heard was that he went to Tao’s place with his boys and they beat him up. They even put him in the car boot before later releasing him. I later heard that the boy died,” the technician explained.

However, when contacted, the Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Omolola Odutola, said the incident was not on the list of cases reported at the Sango Police Station during the week.

“We are not aware of any such incident or death. I just checked our files now; nothing like that was reported to us,” the PPRO said.

Speaking with our correspondent on Friday, a strong ally of Oscar, who identified himself as Imoleayo Obafemi, also dismissed the claim, insisting that the young man died as a result of a long-term illness and not from any assault.

“The story is not true. That was not what happened,” he said.

Obafemi explained that although there was a minor misunderstanding, the deceased had been battling a serious health condition.

“Everybody in the community knows the guy has a liver problem and another issue that affects the anus. When he got to the hospital, it was like they gave him an injection he wasn’t supposed to take. Nobody beat him.

“You know bloggers; when they see something, they add to it. And once someone dies, people will always look for a name to blame,” he added.

culled from punch