Raheem Akingbolu writes that the family of a medical doctor, David Oguntuase, believed to have been murdered inside his clinic in Akure, Ondo State, on Christmas Day, has asked the police to bring his killers to book
 
The date was December 25, 2014, when the world was in a joyful mood of Christmas Day celebration. But in Akure, the capital of Ondo State, the joy came with sadness.
The residents of Akure woke up to the news of a late night inferno that killed a well-known physician in the city, Dr. David Oguntuase, right inside his clinic -Universal Medical Clinic, located in Araromi area of the city.
According to some reports the fire incident may have been caused by candlelight used overnight in the hospital for illumination since there was no power supply.
But another version of the reports said that Oguntuase, a consultant paediatrician and Head of Paediatrics, Federal Medical Centre, Owo, was actually murdered.
Then many questions quickly surfaced; who could killed the medical doctor and for what? Why was he the only one killed? Where were the nurses and patients in the hospital during the period?
Oguntuase, who was a one-time Chairman, Nigerian Medical Association, Ondo State branch was said to have returned to the clinic on the Christmas Eve and ordered the staff of the hospital to go home and celebrate Christmas with their families as there was no in-patient to attend to again in the hospital that night.
Residents in the area who shared the news with newsmen said they noticed at about 2.00 a.m. that the building had gone up in flames and the fire could not be put out until around 5.00 a.m. after which Oguntuase’s burnt body was found facing the ground.
One of the witnesses who is a neighbour of the deceased said he heard distress call of people around 2.am<http://2.am> and came out and saw that the hospital was on fire. He said while some of them were using water to put out the fire, some of them ran to the fire brigade station for assistance.
The assistance from the men of the state fire service according to him didn’t come through for lack of mobility.
Meanwhile, the fire incident that killed Oguntuase has taken a different turn as police and other stakeholders, including the family of the late doctor and his professional colleagues have disagreed over the real cause of his death.
While the police issued a statement saying that it was a mere case of fire accident, his family and colleagues are of the view that he was murdered.
The members of the medical association said they suspected foul play since the doctor should have left hospital, when there was no patient in the hospital and had told his staff to close for the day.
They also argued that the magnitude of the fire outbreak that burnt down the hospital building pointed in the direction of arsonists.
For the family of the deceased, it was a case of assassination.  The elder brother of the deceased, Otunba Ben Oguntuase, claimed that his brother was murdered before he was set ablaze by the arsonists.
He said the picture of the incident showed that the assassins obviously took their time to set the body ablaze after killing him.
He said: “Evidently, they shot him in the main clinic area and carried his body to the room in the back area, where they left him face down. Not done, they severed his hands and legs before proceeding to douse the body with petrol. The rest of the building on the inside was sprinkled with petrol before it was all set ablaze. It obviously was an inferno that raged leading the building to implode as the roof caved inward. Interestingly, the neighbouring buildings were not affected. No doubt this was a most professional job that was obviously very carefully contracted and crafted”.
The Oguntuase family however linked the death of their son to the raging crises at FMC, Owo, which led to the questioning of the deceased by the police some weeks before the Christmas Day, following the allegation of threat to life levelled against some doctors at the hospital by its medical director, Dr. Olufemi Omotoso.
Speaking in parables, Oguntuase said: “The witch cried yesterday, the child died today. It is clear as to where the police should focus their searchlight to unearth the criminals and their sponsor.

“There are enough trace and evidences left in their trail to follow up on the source of this dastard act. After all, there is really no perfect crime. For the record, David, my brother did not commit suicide and there was no gas explosion. He was murdered in cold blood, in a most wicked manner, dismembered and then set ablaze. There is enough evidence at the crime scene to assist the investigative authorities”.
A dejected wife of the deceased also said that her husband was indeed killed by assassins. She therefore said the only thing she needed was justice, charging security operatives to fish out those behind the dastard act.
The mother of three, who also works as a social worker at FMC, Owo, said her husband had called her earlier in the day at about 6.45 p.m. to inform her on certain things she should do, particularly as regards shopping for the basic needs of the house, which may be difficult to get on Christmas Day.
The woman lamented that the only thing she learnt the following day was the death of her husband of 20 years, who she said could not hurt a fly.
“Every available evidence points to the fact that my husband was gruesomely murdered and I want justice for him, I want the security operatives to fish out those responsible for this satanic act,” she said.
Speaking on the kind of person her husband was, she said: “He was simple and forthright. He used his clinic for charity. The clinic did not bring money to the home, he used his salary to pay his workers. He was kind-hearted and selfless”.
Now, the NMA has come heavily on the police, accusing it of poor handling of the crime scene, saying the scene had been a free-for-all site, an act that could compromise the evidence available at the scene.
The state chairman of NMA, Dr. Bamidele Betiku said: “The scene of the incident was initially a free-for-all to come in and out of the premises before concerted efforts were made by the NMA on the police to cordon off the environment such that the abundance of evidence be adequately utilised.
“The manner of evacuation of the burnt body from the scene was to say the least dodgy with a considerable likelihood to compromise the results of investigations”.
The association also faulted the call by the police for the family of Dr, Oguntuase to furnish it with any evidence on the matter, arguing that it was the duty of the police to look for evidence in a case of murder like this one.
“The question is, have the police done all their investigations on the scene or perhaps waiting for the family of our late colleague to produce evidence?
“While we believe that the police are up to the task, we also note with dismay that even the forms C and D of the coroner’s inquest have not been sighted by the Ondo NMA despite the intervention of the Ondo State Government,” Bamidele said.
The NMA also demanded that the report of the allegation of threat to life and property should be produced, just as it called on the government and its agencies to ensure the safety of other eight doctors left on the list of those alleged to have threatened the life of the MD of FMC Owo.
However, the Ondo State Police Command said it was wrong for anybody to have jumped into conclusion over the matter, saying it had commenced full scale investigation.
The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Wole Ogodo, noted that investigations are not done on the pages of newspapers, urging those concerned to exercise restrain over the matter.
In what looked like a confirmation of the position of Oguntuase's colleagues, five days after he was murdered, another medical doctor from the same FMC, Muyiwa Alonge, narrowly escaped death after gunmen broke into his home in Aule, Akure, Ondo State.
Incidentally, Dr. Alonge and Dr. Oguntuase were on the list of persons accused of threatening the life of the Medical Director of FMC, Dr. Olufemi Omotoso.
Dr. Longe told journalists that the attackers broke through his door violently brandishing dangerous weapons and threatened to kill him. However, the police dismissed narrative of Dr. Longe, describing it as mere armed robbery attack.
Now, the Oguntuase’s family has petitioned the Inspector General of Police, Suleiman Abba, urging him to help find the killer of their son.  Will that happen?