Fahim Saleh, the 33-year-old founder of Nigerian ride-hailing app Gokada, was found decapitated and dismembered in a luxury New York apartment https://t.co/goovgcUej0 pic.twitter.com/uid6L0D8bY
— Reuters (@Reuters) July 16, 2020
Who killed 33-year-old tech CEO Fahim Saleh, and why? Detectives with the New York Police Department have not pointed to any suspects but say they believe the grisly killing happened because of a financial dispute. That’s according to reporting in The Daily Beast. Detectives say Saleh’s attacker could have been a person with a direct dispute with Saleh or could have been a hired hitman.
Police said that surveillance footage from the Saleh’s Manhattan building showed the victim entering the elevator at 1:40 p.m. Monday. In the building, elevators lead directly to apartments, and Saleh’s unit was on the seventh floor. In any case, the suspect — a man in all black, including a mask and hood — followed Saleh into the elevator, the police said. The victim used a key fob in the elevator to reach his floor.
It’s unclear what the two men said to each other since there are no audio records of their exchange, but video shows the suspect followed Saleh, put up a hand, and that Saleh fell to the floor. Authorities suggested the suspect possibly used a taser.
The actual killing doesn’t seem to have been caught on video, but officials said that Saleh was stabbed to death in the torso. The belief is that the suspect waited overnight so that the blood in the victim’s body could coagulate. Then, the suspect began dismembering the corpse. The body was discovered Tuesday, however, when the victim’s sister went to check on her brother. Detectives suggested this interrupted the killer’s work.
“Gokada is not just a business to me, it’s a mission.”
– Fahim Saleh, founder Gokada (1986-2020)What an honour it is to have been led by you Fahim. Your teachings on safety, efficiency and kindness will continue to follow us as we uphold the legacy which you successfully began pic.twitter.com/Ar0PndWJof
— Gokada – We do delivery now (@GokadaNG) July 16, 2020
Saleh was CEO of Gokada. The company began as a motorcycle ride-sharing service in Lago, Nigeria, but transitioned to deliveries after the city banned commercial motorcycles.
“Fahim is more than what you are reading,” Saleh’s family said in a statement. “He is so much more. His brilliant and innovative mind took everyone who was a part of his world on a journey and he made sure never to leave anyone behind.”
[Screengrab via Reuters]
