The mother of a schoolboy shot dead in south east London weeks after his 14th birthday is living in fear, friends revealed.
Eghosa Ogbebor, 14 – described as the “sweetest little kid” – was gunned down on Lord Warwick Street, Woolwich, at about 3.40pm on last Thursday.
According to reports, he was going out to film a music video with his friends close to The Greyhound pub.
Family friend Kolise Uwagboe said Eghosa’s 12-year-old sister who he was due to meet when it happened has been left “absolutely petrified”.
Mrs Uwagboe told the Standard: “The whole family is distraught but while grieving for their eldest child they are living in fear for their lives at the moment. They haven’t been able to leave the house since.
“Eghosa had only just celebrated his 14th birthday at home with them a few weeks earlier.
“It was not that he was stabbed, he was shot. It’s barbaric.”
Eghosa’s murder was the fourth in six days over a bloody Easter Bank Holiday, including musician’s son Finbar Sullivan, 21, at a viewpoint on Primrose Hill.
Mrs Uwagboe added: “It feels like no one is exempt from the violence. If you have a young boy around certain areas, it feels like you could be next.
She has set up a GoFundMe page which has raised almost £1,000 so far to provide Eghosa with the dignified funeral he deserves.
Eghosa was a “kind and gentle soul whose presence lit up any room he was in”, said Mrs Uwagboe who met the family at the House of Comfort Church in Thamesmead.
His loving mother, father and two younger siblings, who live in Abbey Wood, are now “forced to bear the weight of this immeasurable loss” and “senseless act of violence”.
Mrs Uwagboe said: “Eghosa was the sweetest little kid and very cute.
“He was always joking and giving out hugs. It’s just a shame something like this would happen. He is still a baby.
“You hear about crime in London but you never think it will come so close to home. It’s quite distress. The violence is awful and senseless but indicative of wider structural issues.
“Personally, I think both Eghosa and the perpetrators are victims because whoever has done it is going to jail for life. That’s another waste of a life.
“There’s more to life than guns and knives. Enough is enough.”
On Saturday, a 16-year-old boy and a 19-year-old man were arrested on suspicion of murder.
Two boys aged 14 and 16 and an 18-year-old man held on Friday have been released on bail, the Metropolitan Police said.
A 46-year-old man detained for assisting an offender remains in custody.
Scotland Yard said Eghosa’s family are being supported by specialist officers.
Officer sacked after boasting of using force on young female detainee
Revealed: how Russia, China and US groups are spreading lies online about London
Binky Felstead blasted by London bakery for 'asking for free cake' for her son
Amol Rajan questions raising family in England due to ‘big problems’ in country
