AD DYNAMO

Saturday 20 October 2012

Vulcanizer sets his Cousin apprentice ablaze in Lagos

Jubril Kassim and Musbau Oyelakin are not only cousins. The former is also the latter’s apprentice. Why then would a master set his cousin ablaze? Why would a man want his cousin dead through a raging inferno? But for the intervention of a detachment of Lagos State security outfit,
OPMESA, 23-year-old Jubril Kassim would have been long dead by now. He was reportedly set ablaze by the man who is expected to put him on the path of greatness. Kassim dropped out of secondary school in 2008 having written his Junior Secondary Certificate Examination and was left in the care of one Musbau Oyelakin, the vulcanizer who now planned to get rid of the young man. Apart from being his boss, Odulakin is a cousin to Kassim’s mother.

Kassim has been learning vulcanizing from Odulakin at the latter’s shop close to Ladipo Spare Parts market, in Lagos, ever since he left school in 2008. Kassim is reported to be the oldest among the four apprentices in Odulakin’s care. He is also said to enjoy some privileges among other apprentices apparently not only because he is the most senior, but because of the affinity with their boss. He was also reportedly loved and respected by Odulakin for the former’s devotion to work. Kassim’s parents are in Ada, Osun State but the young man lives with Odulakin. He has been living with his cousin since he started learning the trade in 2008. But the love Odulakin purportedly had towards Kassim took a downward trend recently when he allegedly set the young man on fire.

The sad incident occurred on Saturday, 13 October, 2012, around 6:20pm. Eyewitnesses told Saturday Mirror that Kassim, a lover of European football, left the shop to watch his favourite team play. He reportedly ordered his subordinates to lock up shop anytime they felt like going home. But unknown to Kassim, his boss had asked one of his debtors, who had promised to pay his debt, to hand over the sum to him. Odulakin, who had attended the meeting of vulcanizer chiefs throughout that day, was reported to have left instructions with one of the junior apprentices for Kassim not to leave the shop until the customer come with the money and that he should take the money home for him. The said customer was said to owe Odulakin N45, 000.

Though, the customer did not show up at noon as he promised, he did show up at the shop around 5:00pm. When the customer came, the shop was virtually empty as all the apprentices but one (the youngest) had left the shop. Efforts to have the customer leave the money behind for his boss by the young apprentice were futile as the man claimed he would only hand the money over to Kassim as briefed by Odulakin during their discussions on phone. Investigations revealed that before leaving Odulakin’s shop, the customer reportedly called Odulakin to inform him that he got to the shop and there was no one he could hand over the money to and that he would bring it back at a later date. When Odulakin returned to the shop about 6:00pm, there was no one to be found.

Red-faced, Odulakin called Kassim to find his way back to the shop immediately. Kassim came back about 20 minutes after his boss called his phone number ordering him back into the shop. An enraged Odulakin, upon sighting Kassim did not even bother to ask where he was coming from. He reportedly pounced on the young man and gave him a beating of his life. When Kassim could not condone the beating again, he reportedly bluntly told his boss that he could not receive the punishment any longer. Apparently infuriated by the boss’s attitude, Kassim reportedly rained some abuses on his mentor. This further angered Odulakin, who allegedly grabbed a keg hitherto used to buy kerosene, and turned the content of the keg on Kassim. But at this time of the argument, one of Odulakin’s neighbours had used the keg to buy petroleum hoping to take it home and return the keg following day.

In no time, Kassim was reportedly drenched by the content in the keg, and while trying to remove his shirt from being burnt by the inferno close by, he was caught right inside it. The young man was caught by the ensuing inferno. Neighbours moved in fast to ensure that the raging fire did not consume the young man. Just as the people were battling to put out the fire, a detachment of OP MESA men arrive the scene and took over the situation. They later succeeded in repelling the fire. The security operatives reportedly whisked Odulakin and Kassim to an undisclosed location, but investigations revealed that Kassim was first taken to a hospital before Odulakin was taken with them. “I had told Uncle that I would close the shop earlier than necessary and I was allowed to go. It was when Uncle came to the office and he did not see me that he started shouting for my name.

When I got to the shop, Uncle did not all me to explain anything but just started insulting me and poured the content of the keg on my body,” Kassim said. Oduiakin on his part blamed the incident on the work of the devil. He claimed it was not intentional. His words, “Kassim is like my own son. There is no way I would intentional want to burn him alive. What happened was just the work of the devil and my traducers who were all out to end my life,” he said. Before he was taken away in police van, the leader of the group, identified as Moses, claimed that Odulakin would be taken to the police station and probably face prosecution. 
MIRROR NEWS

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