Gokada, Nigerian tech community mourn Fahim Saleh’s brutal death

Tributes have continued to pour in to mourn the death of Gokada CEO Fahim Saleh who was brutally murdered in his apartment in the United States on Tuesday.

New York Police Department said Saleh’s corpse was found limbless and headless in a building on E. Houston St. at Suffolk St. on the Lower Eastside, New York. But the dismembered body parts were found at the scene of the murder.

He bought the condo in 2019 for $2.2 million, New York Post reported on Tuesday.

NYPD spokesman Sgt. Carlos Nieves said all of Saleh’s body parts were found at the scene but did not give other details while investigations are ongoing.

“We have a torso, a head that’s been removed, arms, and legs. Everything is still on the scene. We don’t have a motive,” Nieves said.

Reacting to their CEO’s death, Gokada in a statement described Saleh’s death as a “sudden and tragic loss”.

The company said “Fahim was a great leader, inspiration and positive light for all of us.

“Fahim’s vision and belief in us will be with us forever, and we will miss him dearly. Thank you for understanding as we get through this.”

The company commiserated with Saleh’s friends, family and all those feeling the pain and heartbreak they are currently experiencing. Gokada said all updates and changes will be communicated with the public as Saleh remains “Forever in our hearts.”

Hussain M. Elius who co-founded of Bangladesh company, Pathao, with Saleh said he was shocked to hear of Saleh’s demise.

“We are shocked and saddened to hear the reports of the death of Fahim Saleh, one of the founding members of the Pathao team,” Elius said.

Elius stated that Fahim believed in the potential for technology to transform lives in Bangladesh and beyond.

“He saw the promise in us when all we had was a common purpose and a shared vision. He was, and will forever remain, an incredible inspiration for Pathao and our entire ecosystem,” ELius said.

Muyiwa Matuluko, the editor-in-chief of Nigeria-based tech media firm Techpoint Africa reacted to Saleh’s death saying, “this is crazy.”

Co-founder of Tech Next, David Afolayan said Saleh was open, warm and very approachable going by the few conversations they had with him.

He prayed that “May God comfort his family and bring the perpetrators to justice!

The convener of Lagos MSMEs Bootcamp Ayo Bankole wondered what Saleh, who he described as ‘a passionate entrepreneur’, could have done to deserve such a brutal murder.

“A young man living the life & full of promise. Who could he have engaged that is so evil to cut him to pieces?,” Bankole tweeted.

Media manager to Nigerian online payment platform Paystack Mohini Ufeli said “It’s tough enough just to lose him, but to have him ripped away in such a manner… Broken heart.”

PR expert working for Nigerian-based tech firm Wimbart, Maria Adediran, said she was really shocked to hear about what happened to Fahim Saleh. She condoled with his family and the Gokada team.