Crime
Ugandan man sets Nigerian automobile dealers’ shop on fire in S’Africa
By Iyojo Ameh
In a shocking incident that unfolded in Pretoria, South Africa, a series of high-end automobiles worth well over a million South African rands were reduced to ashes when a Ugandan man, reportedly fueled by a mission of revenge against his father, allegedly set fire to a workshop owned by Nigerian nationals involved in the automobile trade.
The spokesperson for Nigeria Union South Africa (NUSA), Habib Miller, officially confirmed this devastating event in a statement on Saturday, September 9, 2023.
This harrowing incident transpired on the 5th day of September 2023, on Vom Hagen Street in Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa. According to Mr. Owolabi Gbadamosi, an associate of the affected business, the tragic sequence of events began with a call he received around 7 p.m. that fateful day.
Gbadamosi and his colleagues had concluded their workday at approximately 6 p.m. and had already departed for their respective homes within the province. Initially assuming the call was related to the occasional transformer explosions in the vicinity (usually caused by cable thieves), which had never caused significant damage to their shop, they soon realized the situation was dire as they approached the scene. The sight of flames signaled a major catastrophe.
Upon reaching the business property individually, they discovered that the fire brigade was already battling the raging inferno, dissuading Mr. Tunji Balogun, another business partner, from attempting to salvage any of the vehicles due to the perilous conditions.
The root cause of this devastating arson was a simmering conflict between a Ugandan national, who had been subletting part of the property in question for seven years, and his own son.
The East African man had been operating an automobile spare parts business at the location for a significant period. About a year ago, he branched out and established a similar business in Atteridgeville, Pretoria. Consequently, he handed over the management of the motor vehicle components business on Vom Hagen Street to his son.
Eyewitnesses recalled that this decision was made because the Atteridgeville branch was generating satisfactory profits.
However, a month prior to the incident, the son borrowed twelve thousand rands (R12,000.00) from his girlfriend and conducted a transaction via his father’s bank account due to documentation challenges preventing him from setting up his own. When his father only transferred half of the money to him, the son became infuriated and questioned his father’s handling of the situation, arguing that he needed the full amount to reinvest in the business.
Their dispute reached an impasse, leading the father to take legal action to reclaim the business from his son, given that he possessed all the necessary legal documents related to the enterprise.
Tensions escalated as the son refused to vacate the premises after receiving verbal notice from his father. Eventually, the father obtained a court order to enforce his son’s removal from the property and the surrounding businesses.
In the weeks leading up to the arson, the father and son’s feud became increasingly heated, with the son even attempting to physically harm his father, only to be restrained by mediators. The son ominously warned that this wouldn’t be the last time his father heard from him regarding the matter.
As the flames engulfed the business location, the father’s anguished cries were heard, repeatedly asserting that his son was the culprit behind the arson. Although it initially appeared that the primary target was his father’s portion of the business on the property, the blaze tragically escalated, consuming Mr. Owolabi and Co.’s businesses in its destructive path.