Wife of late sound Engineer, David Udo-Umo murdered by cyclists in Lekki last week has recounted how her husband was killed in Lekki.
Grace David Bolu lamented that Beer Barn, the upscale leisure facility, where the 37-year-old Akwa-State born, went to play on that fateful day, shut its doors against her husband when he tried to escape from the mob.
Grace, a senior Technical Officer, at Ijede Local Council Development Area (LCDA), Ikorodu in Lagos, said contrary to reports that her husband was a passenger to a motorcyclist, he only came to help his friends who were being beaten.
She said: “I got to know about the incident on May 13, 2022, through his colleague, Melvin. I was in the church at Ajao Estate when the call came in.
“My husband only came out of Beer Barn to intervene when his colleagues were being beaten over N100 change and they started calling them yahoo boys and ritualists.
“My husband was inside the bar setting up instruments, while two of his colleagues were the ones that patronised the motorcyclist and had an argument with the motorcyclist over N100.
“The motorcyclist had agreed to convey them to their destination for a fee of N400, but they gave the bike man N500. He told them he does not have N100 balance and Dave’s colleagues persuaded him to accept N300, which was the only change with them with the promise to balance him N100 next time they come to the area to play, but motorcyclist refused. So, they started arguing.
“When the situation degenerated, some people ran inside to call the rest of the members of Legacy 360 band, which my husband was part of. They stepped out with the hope of rescuing them, but when they got there, they discovered that riders were more than the number they could handle. My husband and others ran back into the bar, but instead of the manager to help them, he sent my husband back that he doesn’t know him.
“My husband was not just beaten, they put tyres on him as if he was a robber.
“ I’m a civil servant, how much is my pay to take care of my children? My marriage of nine years has just ended. My husband does two jobs just to take care of us; he worked in the morning as a sound engineer at Church of God Mission, Lekki and works with Legacy 360 band on Thursdays and Fridays. He comes home on Sundays after service and returns to Lekki on Tuesdays just to fend for us.”
Explaining how his colleagues escaped and left her husband to die, she said: “When the manager pushed my husband out, his other colleagues were rescued, they unleashed the anger of not catching his colleagues on him.”
Describing her husband, she said: “Dave was a hardworking man, he can go to lengths for anybody. He was a caring and loving man and father; David-Imoh did everything legal to care for us.
“I feel bad when I heard that people labelled him a ritualist. Most of his friends and acquiantances don’t know the name Dave, but when they hear Dave Sound, they recognized him. People in House on the Rock, Redeemed, Church of God Mission International know Dave. My husband was not a ritualist. He was a lover of people and a lover of God. I have two kids for him, the first, Samuel David is five-year-old, while Emmanuel David is a year and five-month-old.”
The mother of two, who was worried that nobody from the government has reached out to the family since the incident, said: “The Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, should come to my aid and help my children.
“ I need justice for my husband, this must not be swept under the carpet. He was my support. I just finished my Post Graduate Diploma in Mechanical Engineering at Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA).”
MEANWHILE, the management of Beer Barn, has denied the claim, saying it made efforts to save the deceased from his assailants.
In a statement released in Lagos yesterday, it said three naval officers told its staff when trouble broke out that they were trying to resolve the dispute that led to the mob killing him as well as its foiled attempt to kill his colleague, Philip Balogun, for allegedly using charm on a commercial motorcyclist who lost, but later regained consciousness.
Beer Barn stated that David-Imoh, a sound engineer with a live band it hired to provide musical entertainment for its patrons, was killed after the naval officers were unable to get the situation under control because of the intensity of the anger of the mob, which believed that the alleged victim of the charm had died.
In desperation, Beer Barn said, it called the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Maroko Police Station, but the police team did not arrive, before David-Imoh was killed by the mob.
“Before his team could get to our facility, the mob had already burnt David and was on the verge of doing same to his colleague, Philip Balogun, when policemen arrived and dispersed the crowd by firing in the air,” it added.
The leisure facility expressed sadness at the occurrence and expressed its support for efforts to bring perpetrators to book.
“Our prayers and thoughts are with the family of the David-Imoh. We unreservedly condemn the mob action that led to the unfortunate incident, as it indicated disrespect to life, and are in full support of the efforts to ensure that justice is done in the matter.
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