A barber identified simply as Hafiz has been killed after unidentified gunmen attacked him inside his barbing salon at Church Gate along the Badagry Expressway in Lagos State.
The incident reportedly occurred on Tuesday, July 21, shortly after the victim had attended to his last customer for the day.
According to sources familiar with the incident, three armed men entered the salon moments before closing time and attacked the barber before fleeing the scene.
A source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said Hafiz had concluded work for the day and was preparing to shut his business when the assailants struck.
The source added that the victim was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was later confirmed dead.
An anti cultism monitoring platform, Naija Confra, also confirmed the incident, stating that the attack took place at about 10 pm.
The group noted that the motive behind the killing remained unclear, as the identities of the attackers had yet to be established.
According to the platform, residents of the area said the community had remained peaceful, with no recent reports of cult related clashes or violent confrontations.
Residents reportedly told the platform that the attack came as a shock, adding that they could not determine whether it was connected to the victim’s personal affairs, business activities or any other dispute.
Efforts to obtain an official reaction from the Lagos State Police Command were unsuccessful, as calls and text messages sent to the command’s spokesperson, CSP Abimbola Adebisi, were not responded to as of the time of filing this report.
The latest incident adds to concerns over violent crimes in parts of Lagos.
In June, three persons, including a 22 year old man identified as Abdulmalik Bakare, were reportedly killed during an attack by suspected cultists in the Oreta community of Ikorodu.