A barber identified simply as Hafiz was shot dead inside his barbing salon at Church Gate along the Badagry Expressway in Lagos State by yet-to-be-identified gunmen.
PUNCH Metro learnt that the incident occurred on Tuesday, July 21.
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It was gathered that three armed men reportedly stormed the salon shortly after the victim had finished attending to a customer.
A source familiar with the incident who craved anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the incident told our correspondent that the attackers opened fire on Hafiz before fleeing the scene.
“Hafiz had just finished attending to a customer when three gunmen came into the shop and attacked him. He had already planned to close for the day once he finished with the customer’s hair before the incident happened. He was shot, and the assailants fled immediately,” the source said.
The source said Hafiz was rushed to the hospital, where he was confirmed dead on arrival.
An anti-cultism platform, Naija Confra, also confirmed the incident in a post seen by PUNCH Metro on Sunday.
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The platform stated that Hafiz was shot twice in the head inside his shop by unidentified gunmen.
It noted that the motive behind the killing remained unknown, adding that residents ruled out any known cult-related violence in the area.
The post read, “On Tuesday night, around 10 pm, gunmen came to his barbershop, where it was reported that he was shot twice in the head inside the shop. At this time, the motive behind his death is unclear, as the attackers are still unknown.
“Residents informed Naija Confra that the area has been very peaceful and that there have been no known conflicts among cult groups there. They stated that this is the first time such a tragic incident has occurred in their area and that they do not know whether the matter was business-related or cult-related.”
The Lagos State Police Command spokesperson, Abimbola Adebisi, could not be reached for comments as calls made to her telephone lines were not responded to. A text message sent to her had yet to be replied to as of the time this report was filed.
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PUNCH Metro reported in June that a 22-year-old man, Abdulmalik Bakare, and two other persons had been reportedly killed by suspected cultists who invaded the Oreta community in the Ikorodu area of the state.
Punch