Pascal Arogorn Ibe
The death of David Ntekim-Rex, a 22-year-old computer expert in Lagos, has again raised fears over insecurity in different parts of Lagos.
Mr Ntekim-Rex, who worked with Crevatal, a Financial technology company in Lagos, was attacked at Jibowu area of Lagos, robbed and shot dead.
His cousin, who broke the news on Twitter, said Mr Ntekim-Rex was on his way home on Friday night when he was attacked by robbers and shot dead.
The deceased, who was described as a tech guru by friends on social media, won the IBM Z Academic Initiative Prize in 2018, beating 17,000 other applicants across the globe.
“David got shot around 8pm. The police were called, David hadn’t died yet. The Nigerian police stood and watched as he gasped for air. They took pictures instead, and were more concerned with why he – a tech guy- was carrying a laptop. Nigeria failed you, David,” his cousin @Magnanimous_ tweeted.
“David was taken to the military hospital around the area, the nurses ignored him. The doctor came around and kept asking who they all were. It took a senior nurse to come out and start checking for a pulse. He had lost a lot of blood at this point.
“The police then took David and his family to Sabo, where they looked for the laptop that he had on him instead of giving them a police report. The police officers were drunk and kept being unreasonable. He was finally released to his family, and they got to LUTH around 12:30am. David wasn’t attended to by the doctors at LUTH.
“He was there till the family was convinced he couldn’t be alive because he had no pulse. The doctors refused to administer any test to see if he was alive. The country failed David. The doctors failed David. The police failed David. The system failed David. Rest in peace David Ntekim-Rex,” Magnanimous_ tweeted.
Olumuyiwa Adejobi, the spokesperson of the Lagos State Police Command, told PREMIUM TIMES that the claims of the family of the deceased are untrue because the “boy’s lifeless body was found in his pool of blood when the police got there.”
“They met the police and the police raced down to the scene. Met the lifeless body of the deceased. The family insisted they wanted him taken to the hospital which our men followed them to military hospital Yaba, they rejected him there. Yet the policemen still moved with them to LUTH where he was received and confirmed dead.
“They came back to the station so that they can get police report and drop him at the mortuary. If the police as not with them at the first instance, we will say negligence of duty. But I spoke with the DPO, officers were there with them and following the family up and down.
“While we sympathise with the family of the young man, the police did not fail to respond or act as expected,” Mr Adejobi said.
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