On the evening of Saturday, April 26, 2025, a bustling section of Ilorin, the capital of Kwara State, was shattered by an eruption of violence that left three people dead and many others stunned in disbelief. What began as a typical day in the modestly vibrant Oja Gbooro area ended in bloodshed, sorrow, and unanswered questions.
Three lives were abruptly extinguished by bullets—those of a scrap dealer, a suya vendor, and a young woman—when unknown gunmen, posing as customers, unleashed horror under the cover of darkness. The carefully calculated attack has thrown a quiet community into mourning and ignited concerns over a spike in organized criminal activity in what many once considered a safe part of town.
This is the full account of what happened, the lives affected, and the implications of this tragic event.
It was around 8:30pm, shortly after the last Islamic prayer of the day—Ishai—when Sampsodeen Awwal, a young scrap dealer in his early 30s, received a phone call from a group of men who said they had scrap metal to sell. He had just returned to Ilorin from Kebbi State, where he had spent the Eid al-Adha (Sallah) celebrations with his extended family.
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According to his neighbor, Mr. Mohammed, Sampsodeen was a man of simple means and honest work. “He is not the kind of person that makes trouble. He just tries to earn a living,” Mohammed told reporters. “He told me someone called him about scrap to buy. He even went to withdraw money to close the deal.”
Unbeknownst to him, the call was a trap.
The four men arrived in a yellow-painted tricycle (commonly referred to as Keke Napep in Nigeria), posing as regular customers. Sampsodeen, unaware of their real intentions, entered into discussions with them. Witnesses say the men appeared calm and businesslike at first. One even gestured toward a supposed scrap location behind a small building. It was a ruse to draw him away from the open street.
Moments later, gunshots rang out.
“They shot him first in the leg,” said a witness who asked to remain anonymous. “He tried to get up, and then one of them stepped closer and shot him in the head. We ran for our lives.”
Chaos followed. The sounds of gunfire sent residents scurrying into their homes and nearby shops. In the confusion, a suya vendor who had his stand just a few feet from the scene was struck by a stray bullet. The young woman, identified only as Halimat, had been walking past on her way home from buying bread when she too was hit.
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Eyewitnesses say the attackers calmly returned to their tricycle and sped away. Their only loot: Sampsodeen’s inexpensive mobile phone, which police later confirmed was used to lure him into the trap.
“They didn’t even touch the money he was carrying,” Mr. Mohammed said. “They left the cash on him and just took his small phone. That’s why we are confused. It doesn’t look like armed robbery.”
A native of Kebbi State, Sampsodeen had been living in Kwara for several years, working in the scrap business. Described as humble, quiet, and industrious, he was known among traders in the Oja Gbooro area as someone who didn’t cheat or argue unnecessarily.
“He was always on the move,” said Kabiru, a fellow scrap trader. “He would go to mechanic workshops, construction sites, and junkyards to buy damaged metal. Then he would sell to larger buyers. He was trying to save up for a truck of his own.”
Sampsodeen leaves behind a young wife, two children aged four and one, and an elderly mother who has since traveled from their village in Kebbi to claim his body. His family is devastated.
The second casualty, whose name was given as Musa Aliyu, had been selling suya in that location for over six years. Popular with residents and customers alike, Musa had just finished preparing the night’s second round of beef when the bullets tore through the air.
“He was not even involved,” lamented his younger brother, Bashiru. “He just happened to be there. He was hit in the chest. He died before they reached the hospital.”
Aliyu’s death has left his wife, who is seven months pregnant, without a source of income and his two school-aged children without a father.
The third victim, 23-year-old Halimat Jimoh, was a recent graduate of Kwara State Polytechnic. Friends say she had ambitions of starting a fashion business and was currently interning with a tailor in the nearby Ita-Amodu area.
“She went to buy bread. That’s all. She didn’t even know anything was happening,” said her friend, Zainab. “She was shot in the side. She bled too much before they could find a way to rush her to the hospital. They said she died around midnight.”
Her family is inconsolable.
In the aftermath of the attack, the Kwara State Police Command swiftly responded with a press statement issued by its spokeswoman, SP Adetoun Ejire-Adeyemi.
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“We are investigating the matter thoroughly,” she said. “We are not ruling out any motives, but we suspect this may not be a case of assassination. The fact that they used his phone to set him up suggests a premeditated plan, but not one driven by a political or personal vendetta.”
When asked if cult activity was a possible angle, SP Ejire-Adeyemi confirmed that the state had seen a recent uptick in cult-related killings and disputes.
“We are probing whether this may have been part of an internal gang or cult feud. But we are still gathering evidence. As of now, no arrests have been made.”
Police say they are analyzing call records from the victim’s phone and CCTV footage from a nearby filling station, which may have captured the tricycle’s movements before or after the attack.
The Oja Gbooro area has since been gripped by fear. Many shop owners closed early on Sunday, and residents held a brief community prayer to mourn the dead and pray for peace.
“We have never seen anything like this before,” said Alhaji Abdulmumin, an elder in the neighborhood. “Ilorin is a peaceful town. For criminals to come and kill someone in front of everybody like this shows they have no fear of God or the law.”
Local youth have begun patrolling the area at night with torches and sticks, while some are calling for the installation of a police outpost nearby.
“It’s not enough for the police to come after people have died,” said community organizer Jumoke Omotosho. “We want to feel safe again. If this can happen to Sampsodeen, it can happen to any of us.”
The method used in the murder—posing as customers in a tricycle, luring the victim to a remote spot, and then shooting him execution-style—has raised concerns about a possible pattern. Similar tactics have been reported in at least two other cases in Kwara in the past three months, though not all resulted in fatalities.
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On March 4, a POS operator in Ganmo was robbed and killed after being contacted by unknown men who claimed they needed cash urgently. And in February, a phone repairer was assaulted and stabbed in the Kulende area after being lured with a promise of bulk repair work.
“These criminals are adapting. They know that people won’t suspect a business deal,” said Oladipo Aluko, a criminologist and lecturer at the University of Ilorin. “It’s organized crime in disguise. Unfortunately, it’s catching innocent people off guard.”
The Kwara State government has yet to issue a formal response, but sources at the Governor’s Office say a high-level security meeting was convened on Sunday night to address the incident and discuss preventive strategies.
Sampsodeen Awwal trusted that he was going to make money from an ordinary business transaction. Instead, he walked into an ambush. His story—tragic and unjust—is one that resonates deeply in a country where economic hardship has left many clinging to survival by any opportunity offered, even by strangers.
In Ilorin today, families are mourning. Children have lost a father, a mother has lost a son, a pregnant woman has lost her husband, and a bright young woman has had her future stolen.
The dead cannot speak, but their silence screams for justice.
As investigations continue, the people of Ilorin—and indeed Kwara State—are watching, hoping that this time, the perpetrators will not vanish into the shadows, that this time, the system will not fail the innocent.
