Nigerian Youngster Shot Dead In UK

A twenty-five year-old Nigerian, Sadiq Adebiyi, was yesterday shot dead by two men in South London, United Kingdom, according to online reports published today.

Reports said that the two men approached Adebiyi on a motorbike and shot him as he stood near Stockwell Tube station in south London.

A 19-year-old man was arrested after a police van followed the bike into the Patmore Estate in Battersea. A second man, 21, was also arrested after the shooting yesterday.

Adebiyi suffered gunshot wounds and died in hospital about an hour after the attack.

The shooting happened outside Richardson Court, near the junction with Stockwell Road, the reports said.

The police have appealed for witnesses to testify “The best way we can make this area safer for the people who live there is with their assistance,” Det Ch Insp Neil Hutchison said.

Many Nigerians have been murdered in the United Kingdom in recent years. Some time ago, a Nigerian schoolboy was killed trying to get his Blackberry back from a gang of muggers.

Temidayo Ogunneye, 15, was robbed of his blackberry and when he returned 80 minutes later with three friends to retrieve the gadget, a clash broke out between the two groups and Temidayo was stabbed in the stomach. He died in the hospital six hours after.

James Oyebola, a 46-year-old former British heavyweight boxing champion and Nigerian by birth was also shot in the face at point-blank range.

The incident took place at the Chateau 6 nightclub in Fulham, west London after Oyebola told three men smoking in the club to put out their cigarettes as demanded by the club management. Oyebola was a bouncer at another club and had gone to Chateau 6 nightclub to have a drink with the owner who was a good friend.

On 19 February 2008, Sunday Essiet, 15, died from a stab wound. He was attacked after a row between groups of youths in Invermore Place, Woolwich.

David Idowu died on Monday 7 July 2008, three weeks after being knifed in the chest and stomach in a confrontation with a group of youths.

In 2000, Damilola Taylor, 10, a Nigerian schoolboy, was stabbed to death by two British teenagers in the United Kingdom. His murder in Peckham shocked Britain and Nigeria.

Other Nigerians have escaped with severe wounds after they were knifed by assailants on the roads, clubs and other public places.

—Simond Ateba