By: AswathyP
A technology entrepreneur who founded Nigeria’s Gokada ride-hailing app was found decapitated and dismembered in a luxury New York apartment with a power saw plugged in nearby, New York police said.
Police on Wednesday (15) confirmed the death of Fahim Saleh in a statement and deemed it a homicide.
Detectives found Saleh’s torso near a power saw and later discovered his head and limbs sorted into plastic bags, police said.
Saleh’s sister discovered the body Tuesday (14) afternoon, and the fact the saw was still connected led detectives to suspect her arrival may have startled the perpetrator, who would have fled through another exit, media reports said.
Saleh, 33, founded the Gokada motorbike hailing app. It was popular in the Nigerian megacity of Lagos until state officials in February banned all motorcycle taxis, known locally as ‘okada’ and able to weave through traffic.
Gokada, funded by the US and Gulf investment and venture capital funds, has one of the largest fleets of motorcycle hailing taxis in Nigeria. But the company, along with its competitors, fell foul of regulators in Lagos state.
The company confirmed his death on Twitter on Wednesday.
“We at Gokada are shocked and saddened to hear that Fahim Saleh, our founder and CEO, passed away under tragic circumstances in New York earlier this week,” the company tweeted.
“As painful as these last days have been for us, we at Gokada owe it to ourselves and to Fahim’s memory to act and fulfill his vision for the company and for Nigerian youth.”
Security camera video showed Saleh in the apartment building’s elevator with a man in a dark suit, mask and gloves, reports said.
Video showed the masked man following Saleh into the apartment, where a struggle began.
According to his LinkedIn biography, Saleh founded Gokada ‘seeing an opportunity in his parent’s native country of Bangladesh’. He also invested in a similar venture in Colombia.
