February 20, (THEWILL) – Testifying before an Ikeja coroner’s court, Damian Oguinye, a police officer, has revealed that a Beretta Pistol was found laying on the upper chest of late socialite and polo buff, Dapo Ojora when the police was invited following the business man’s controversial death.
The witness also disclosed that the pistol had 13 rounds of live ammunition still loaded in it and when a search was made, an empty shell was discovered in an indoor waste basket.
Dapo who was one of the sons of boardroom guru, Otunba Adekunle Ojora and the elder brother to Toyin Saraki, wife of the former senate president, Bukola Saraki, was found dead at his residence in Ikoyi, Lagos on December 11, 2020 after gunshot wound he reportedly inflicted on himself.
Oguinye told the court that the Ikoyi police station received a distress call from one Adeyinka Ojora in the evening of December 11, 2020 that a 59-year-old man was found lifeless in a pool of his own blood.
According to him, Mustapha Tijani, the divisional police officer (DPO) of the Ikoyi police station, went to the scene with a team of police officers.
“While the team saw only one shell in the waste basket, it later came and saw two other empty shells in the premises. The deceased was lying down facing upwards. The bullet had hit the wall.”
He said that the DPO checked around the house to see if there was any break-in but found none.
Oguinye added that Tijani cordoned off the scene to await the arrival of the deputy commissioner of police in charge of SCID Panti, and the Lagos state commissioner of police.
He said the shirt the deceased was wearing was torn by the DPO to check his torso for bruises but nothing was found.
“A team of forensic experts from SCID Panti, came. CSP Razak Useni led the team. The domestic staff, Nkiru Joseph, was called upon by CSP Razak, she was the one who told us where the other guns were kept and we found where they were kept,” he added.
“Joseph told us that she had just served the deceased food that evening around 6 p.m.”
During Oguinye’s testimony, copies of photographs of the crime scene were tendered as evidence.
Oyetade Komolafe, the coroner, thereafter adjourned the proceedings till Friday (today) for continuation of hearing.
Dapo’s death may not be unconnected to his marital woes with wife, Patricia who is a trained lawyer and and an entrepreneur. Their much celebrated marriage began having hiccups a few years ago and both decided to go their separate ways for undisclosed reasons.
His marital woes was a huge blow to him especially because of the love he shared with his wife, Patricia. And much as he tried to put up a brave face, his marriage problems was too hard for him to handle as he couldn’t bear to loose his loving wife.
Before his death in 2020, Dapo had mysteriously escaped death a few years before, via a ghastly power bike accident, which forced him to retreat from the public space, it therefore comes as a shock that the polo buff would take his own life in such a gruesome manner.
Ivory Ukonu is a versatile journalist with many years of experience, with entertainment and society reporting as her area of core competence.
