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Co-founder of Gokada found decapitated, dismembered inside New York condo

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381–390 of 405 posts

Re: Co-founder of Gokada found decapitated, dismembered inside New York condo

#381

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's worth noting that there was a sudden & pretty draconian regulation passed early this year that gutted Gokada's primary business (ridesharing on motorbikes). He was very passionate in his disagreement with the government's decision. The company pivoted pretty neatly (in my opinion) to last-mile deliveries instead - the pandemic certainly helped drive demand - but currently there's morbid speculation that potentia…

Okay, to play devil's advocate for a moment. What is there to gain financially from killing him, if his previous business was gutted by regulatory changes? The killer was evidently belonging to a highly capable skillset, and I'm extrapolating that they very nearly got away with his body in tow, and nobody would've been the wiser. Could they not have kidnapped him and ransomed the company? If there's financial qualms…

> What is there to gain financially from killing him, if his previous business was gutted by regulatory changes?

It may be as simple as being the member of the board another member is displeased with. Not suggesting that, just saying sometimes your very existence is a liability to others.

> If it was a state agent of Nigeria that is responsible, idk, that'd be geopolitical suicide, putting hits out on private entrepreneurs across national borders

When in Rome....

Re: Co-founder of Gokada found decapitated, dismembered inside New York condo

#382

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Okay, but most people are murdered by someone they knew (well).

Very true. You're much more likely to be killed by someone out of rage or mental illness than being mugged and then shot as a random victim.

The big difference is for the first case you can influence it very strongly, the second one is indiscriminate. So the personal risk for you (and for me) might be much higher for the random mugging case.

Re: Co-founder of Gokada found decapitated, dismembered inside New York condo

#383
post #14

How horrible. Why would someone do this? I'd never heard of Gokada, it looks like such a cool thing for a developing country. I wonder what the motivation was. It doesn't seem like a market where there'd be the political pressure to assassinate someone. Maybe if there was someone trying to rethink the way pharmaceuticals or something, I could understand a CEO getting chopped into pieces by some shadowy figure, but ri…

He was facing an Uber-like regulatory situation in Lagos where his startup was facing a ban. If this was related to his startup (and not some other personal dealing) then a clear motive would be for a legacy carrier being disrupted to want end his startup...

Or a hostile takeover of the company with Saleh being murdered when he wouldn't want to sell or split profits with some connected Nigerian figure.

Re: Co-founder of Gokada found decapitated, dismembered inside New York condo

#384
post #332

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would argue that in the ME everyone is and is not in cold war with everyone else, at any given time. Erdogan and the Saudis, for example, both helped ISIS... until they didn't. There isn't a fundamental ideological divide, everyone is just jockeying for a few more square-meters of this or that.

The jockeying isn't for some square meter of land. It's for influence over the muslim world.

It was a figure of speech. Influence is what gives you control, of course.

Re: Co-founder of Gokada found decapitated, dismembered inside New York condo

#385
Why has nobody pointed out that we need ways to launch products anonymously. When one coder can upend a market that is controlled by mafia, that one coder needs a way to remain anonymous.

The problem is that to publish an App with Apple or Google you cannot be anonymous, correct?

Re: Co-founder of Gokada found decapitated, dismembered inside New York condo

#386

How horrible. Why would someone do this? I'd never heard of Gokada, it looks like such a cool thing for a developing country. I wonder what the motivation was. It doesn't seem like a market where there'd be the political pressure to assassinate someone. Maybe if there was someone trying to rethink the way pharmaceuticals or something, I could understand a CEO getting chopped into pieces by some shadowy figure, but ri…

Organised crime sending message to others unwilling to "cooperate".

Re: Co-founder of Gokada found decapitated, dismembered inside New York condo

#387

Why has nobody pointed out that we need ways to launch products anonymously. When one coder can upend a market that is controlled by mafia, that one coder needs a way to remain anonymous. The problem is that to publish an App with Apple or Google you cannot be anonymous, correct?

Accepting payments is another problem, but the most important one is taking investment and hiring people.

Re: Co-founder of Gokada found decapitated, dismembered inside New York condo

#388

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure but Khashoggi was a very high profile Journalist and Activist and that happened on Turkish soil. An assassination like that in the US would be a dramatic change in their behavior and politically very hazardous.

lol. dude, Turkish goons beat the shit out of American people in front of cameras and got way with it.

I would just like to add, on American soil.

Re: Co-founder of Gokada found decapitated, dismembered inside New York condo

#389
post #346

Probably too early to speculate on motives but it’s interesting to me that he was running a Nigerian tech company. Wonder if he stepped on the wrong person’s toes. It looks like authorities were trying to shut it down on some trumped up safety disputes (which likely means they were not giving out enough bribes)

Motorcycles kill thousands every year in Nigeria. It kills more than cars and buses combined. Such business has been banned virtually in all state capitals in Nigeria for about a decade ago. Lagos state was the only major state where such was functioning until lately.

This is false. The ban was more political than a safety issue.

Re: Co-founder of Gokada found decapitated, dismembered inside New York condo

#390

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure but Khashoggi was a very high profile Journalist and Activist and that happened on Turkish soil. An assassination like that in the US would be a dramatic change in their behavior and politically very hazardous.

lol. dude, Turkish goons beat the shit out of American people in front of cameras and got way with it.

Yeah assault and murder + dismemberment are clearly the same amirite
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