Two men were arrested early this morning, Monday, February 17 as part of the investigation into the fatal assault that occurred at South Anne Street/Duke Lane Upper in Dublin 2 in the early hours of this morning Saturday 15th February 2025.
The victim of the assault has been named locally as Quam Babatunde, a 34-year-old asylum seeker from Nigeria who had been living at the Ballyogan International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) center.
Gardaí said on Saturday that shortly after 3 am, they and emergency services responded to an incident at South Anne Street/Duke Lane Upper where a man, Babatunde, was found with serious injuries and unresponsive.
He was treated at the scene by emergency services personnel and transferred to hospital where he was pronounced deceased a short time later.
A second male, also in his 30s, was injured in the vicinity. He was treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
The scene was preserved and a technical examination took place. The Office of the State Pathologist and local Coroner were notified.
A murder investigation was launched and a Senior Investigating Officer was appointed.
In an update on Monday, Gardaí said that they arrested a man, aged in his 20s, as part of the investigation into the fatal assault following searches in Dublin this morning.
A second man was arrested in Belfast by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and is detained at a police station in Northern Ireland.
Gardaí said in their update on Monday that a post-mortem on the victim had been completed but the results are not being released for operational reasons.
Investigations are ongoing, and Gardaí are continuing to appeal for witnesses and any person who may have been present in the vicinity of South Anne Street/Duke Lane Upper, Dublin 2 between 2:45 am and 3:30 am on Saturday, February 15.
Gardaí said they are particularly interested in speaking with anyone who may have information about any of these incidents or has any mobile phone footage recorded at the relevant locations, and any road users who may have camera footage (including dash-cam) and were travelling in the area or in the vicinity of Dawson Street and St. Stephens Green at the time are asked to make this footage available to investigating Gardaí.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Pearse Street Garda Station on 01 666 9000, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111 or any Garda station.
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