After killing six people, gunmen attempted to burn hotel –Victim’s relative

The story of the tragic death of late Olanrewaju Subair is told from the road leading to his Ajah residence, on the solemn faces of his friends and relatives who throng his home. Though the home was crowded, it had an eerie silence, which was occasionally interrupted by the quiet sobs of some of the mourners.

Subair and five others were shot and killed by gunmen who stormed his hotel at Ajah area, around 2.30 am on Sunday. The other victims were identified as the hotel manager, Wahaab Tijani; hotel workers, Isaiah and Bonny; a lady, who reportedly arrived the country recently from Dublin and said to be Subair’s friend; and a Ghanaian man, who had lodged at the hotel that night.

According to reports, a total of seven persons were shot by the gunmen, including one Emmanuel, who survived the gunshot wounds. It was gathered that Emmanuel had been taken out of Lagos to another state for safety reasons and for further treatment.

Relatives and friends of Subair, 40, described him as an entrepreneur with about 50 persons in his employ. Subair, who was a traditional chief in Oyo and Ogun states, had six wives and six children, with the eldest child still in junior secondary school.

Subair’s’ elder brother, Alhaji Muali Saubair, who spoke to Saturday PUNCH on behalf of the family, said Subair was also a land surveyor.

Muali described the incident leading to his brother’s death as “sad and horrible”, recalling their last moment together.

 He said, “I saw him on Saturday, when we were supposed to have a meeting by 2pm. He came to inform me that one of his friends was having a naming ceremony for his child and would not be able to attend the meeting. He had even bought a white cloth that he would wear to the event to honour his friend. That was the kind of person he was; he loved to rejoice with people.

 “He was a nice person who touched the lives of so many people. Anyone that knew him never regretted knowing him because he was a blessing to all. He had great plans for his hotel business; he wanted to see that it became a 5-star hotel in his lifetime before his life was cut short by bullets.”

Among other titles, Subair was the Balogun of Iwareland, Ibadan, Oyo State and the Otunba Tunwase of Eselu Kingdom, in Ogun.

 Also described as a “jolly good fellow”, one of Subair’s friends, Mr. Tola Yusuf, who knew him for ten years, said he would be “greatly missed”. Yusuf said Subair was famously called “Be happy” by his friends because of his “good nature”.

 He said, “I will miss him a lot; I will miss him greatly because he always liked to be merry and never held any grudges. Last Ramadan, he bought me a ram to celebrate; that’s the kind of person he was.

 “He wanted to succeed in life and be good to mankind. Among his friends, he was known as the coordinator because he was the one who liked to coordinate things. He didn’t like people to worry or be dull whenever he was buoyant, so he would ask us to meet together and have fun. When I heard about his death, I broke down crying and praying that he shouldn’t be the one.

 “He’s not someone one would think would die in 30 or 40 years from this time. So the news of his death came as a huge shock to me.”

One of Subair’s employees, who narrowly escaped sharing in his fate and wanted anonymity, said Subair gave him life when all hope was lost.

 He said, “He gave a lot of us a legitimate source of income and he treated his staff well because most people working with him have their own cars. I was supposed to sleep at the hotel on that night but for something else that came up. I had slept there the previous night and would have been there on the following night if not for my other plans.”

 The employee said he felt lucky to escape but added that Subair’s death didn’t make his situation seem “so fortunate” as he would be needing a means of livelihood soon.

04 Hotel was locked by the police on Sunday following the shooting incident, but on Tuesday, a team of police officers from the State Special Anti-Robbery Squad and the Ajah Police Division, in two vehicles, visited the crime scene for investigation.

 In the premises of the hotel, the rear and side windows of two vehicles including late Subair’s Hummer SUV, were broken, Saturday PUNCH observed during a visit there.

 A source close to the family said that the gunmen had used the butt of their guns to smash the windows of the vehicles.

The source also identified some traces of red patch on the sand by the entrance to the hotel building as Subair’s blood since he was reportedly killed around the spot.

The source, who claimed to be quoting one of the hotel workers that was spared by the gunmen, said, “Six of the gunmen came into the hotel building while others remained outside; some of those outside sat on the fence while others went to the open bar and started drinking.

“They asked for the (hotel) manager and when he was brought forward, they shot and killed him. When the owner, Mr. Subair also came out to see what was happening and to plead with them, they took him out while some members of the gang continued. They started going from one room to another and shooting anybody found there. The owner tried to plead with them and asked them to take anything they wanted including his car, but they didn’t pay him any attention.

“Some of them started breaking the windows of the vehicles with the butt of their guns and also raped some of the ladies in the kitchen. Subair was the last person they killed; they shot him outside and left his body there. In all, seven persons were shot by the gang of killers, but one person survived.”

The source also debunked an earlier report suggesting that a fire incident caused by gunfire was responsible for the death of two of the victims.

The source said, “It was after killing the people that some of them went to the Hummer to draw fuel which was used in burning two of the victims- a man and a woman. We suspected that they started the fire to burn down the hotel, so as to erase traces of gunshots or make it look like a fire incident. But fortunately, the fire didn’t consume the whole place.”

However, it remains unclear why the hotel was a target for the gunmen. During their visit, the team of police investigators said investigation was still ongoing. Also as at the time of writing the report, the bodies of the deceased were still being held at the morgue of the Lagos Island General Hospital for the completion of autopsies.

 But during the operation, one of the gunmen was quoted as saying, “You people ‘chopped’ our master, we are back to revenge.”

 A couple of months ago, the police allegedly set up an armed robbery gang leader using a lady, who signaled her colleagues from one of the hotel rooms, using the criminal’s Blackberry device. The reported breakthrough led to several arrests, including that of the gang leader.

Aresident living close to the hotel, told Saturday PUNCH, that she and her family heard gunshots the morning Sabair and others were killed, but were too afraid to come out until daybreak.

She said, “Everywhere was tense and the gunshots just went on and on but who dare come out? I can’t even say what time it was because I was too tense to notice the time.”

Also interestingly, the relatives and friends of Subair, refuted earlier claims by the police that they engaged the assailants in a gun battle, killing one of them.

In a statement made earlier by the Police Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide, “The robbers told the customers at the hotel that they came on reprisal however, one of the employees was able to call the police and on sighting the policemen, the robbers opened fire. The policemen shot back and one of the robbers was killed. An AK47 rifle was recovered from the robber.

 “The Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Command, Umar manko, has vowed that the robbers will be arrested.”

But a member of the family told Saturday PUNCH that, “All the report of police killing one of the gunmen and recovering an AK 47 rifle was a lie because the police didn’t shoot a single bullet here; the police came around 3.30am when the gunmen had already left. Even at that time, the police officers that came were afraid to go in and we were the ones who encouraged them by taking them inside the hotel.”

However, the Police Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide, in a phone conversation, insisted that the police engaged the gunmen in a gun battle and recovered an AK 47 rifle.

 “I will still maintain that police officers were there and they engaged the gunmen and recovered an AK 47 rifle; other reporters have reported it, so that is what I will still say,” she said