Suspected armed robbers in Belgium have killed a thriving Nigerian bureau de change operator at Bisschopstract, near Antwerp Central Station.
Antwerp is a financial centre in northern Belgium where the first stock exchange was opened in 1460.
According to a report in Het Laatste Nieuws, the most popular newspaper in Flanders and Belgium, the 55-year-old Nigerian, Olushola Omotosho Dare aka Bola, was stabbed to death inside his shop early on Wednesday, January 15.
NewsmakersNG learnt that the suspected perpetrators who are wanted in two earlier crimes are on the run.
After surviving two earlier attacks and was seriously injured in 2015, Bola reportedly said, “I have had nightmares from those robberies, but this exchange office is my only source of income.”
WITHIN THE NIGERIAN COMMUNITY, BOLA ENJOYED A REPUTATION OF “BENEFACTOR”. PEOPLE WHO WERE STRUGGLING TO MAKE ENDS MEET GOT LOANS FROM BOLA AT REASONABLE PAYMENT RATES.
NewsmakersNG also learnt that the police received a report of the latest attack at about 10:30 after two passers-by saw how Bola had slumped in his seat in the exchange office on the corner of the Bisschopstraat with the Carnotstraat.
Kristof Aerts, from the Antwerp public prosecutor’s office, said, “The emergency services tried to resuscitate him, but the 55-year-old man succumbed to his injuries a little later. The law doctor found several stab injuries, including one in the left chest. An autopsy will be performed on Wednesday evening.
“The police are going to check all camera images and the lab has carried out an extensive trace investigation. The Aggression section of the federal judicial police would carry out further investigation. The public prosecutor has asked the investigating judge for robbery. That is a provisional qualification, because at the moment it is not clear whether there is a loot. ”
According to reliable sources, everything points to a robbery that got out of hand. At the exchange office money bills were reportedly spread over the counter and the ground. A number of notes even laid in a puddle of blood.
The police confirmed that it was the third time that Bola would be the victim of robbers. He was already seriously injured in August 2015 when two masked robbers beat him up with their alarm gun and gave him a stab in the abdomen. The perpetrators were trapped in the escape car together with their driver. They were sentenced in 2017 to three and four years in prison.
During that trial, Bola reportedly testified about how his life had changed after the brutal robbery, saying: “I have been unable to work for two years: nightmares, insomnia, etc.”
His lawyer Tim Smet knew that Olushola Omotosho Dare was frightened, but that he still continued to work.
Smet said, “That man had built a well-functioning exchange office and he didn’t want to give up that. He always said: ‘I can only do this. What would I do differently to make money?’ He added the security risks.
“A Nigerian neighbor, Tina from Bisschopstraat sometimes heard Bola complain about the risk of robberies. He had armed himself against it with security cameras. Moreover, he kept his private residence in Antwerp as secret as possible. His wife and three children still lived in Germany. He went to them during the weekend.”
Within the Nigerian community, Bola enjoyed a reputation of “benefactor”. People who were struggling to make ends meet with a loan from Bola at reasonable payment rates.
Friend Suma Foday once received support from Bola: “Bola never sent people who asked him for help home empty-handed. That was known within the Nigerian community. Sometimes he was too good. He recently complained to me that a customer refused to repay him a loan of 1,000 euros. Bola had informed the man that he would disgrace him in the media if he did not repay. Of course he wouldn’t really do that, but it shows that he sometimes had to nag to get his money back.”
In the neighborhood, friends speculate about who this time could be the perpetrators.
“Perhaps they are the same perpetrators as in 2015. We have heard that the perpetrators from that time served their sentences and were released. Maybe this time they have come to take revenge,” Tina said.
