Some
chiefs and residents of Ilashe Ijesa in Obokun Local Government Area of
Osun State on Thursday narrated how the monach of the town, Oba Adesina
Anibijuwon, was killed by suspected members of Odua People’s Congress,
who allegedly strangled him and left his corpse inside his residence
which they set ablaze.
Those who recovered his corpse from the
building said the charred remains of Anibijuwon were taken to the
mortuary at Ladoke Akintola University of Technology Teaching Hospital
in Osogbo by Osun Ambulance Service at around 10.30pm on Wednesday.
The ambulance that conveyed the remains
of the monarch was said to have been escorted to the mortuary by armed
policemen and some residents. The residents feared that those who killed
him might want to seize his corpse.
Some residents who also spoke with our
correspondent said the officials of the state fire service, who came to
put out the inferno, ran out of water.
Some residents wondered why some chiefs
in the town went into hiding when the hoodlums invaded the palace,
urging the police to interrogate them to see if they were culpable.
The Commissioner for Information, Mr.
Sunday Akere; his counterpart at the Ministry of Home, Culture and
Tourism, Mr. Sikiru Ayedun; and the Special Adviser on Security, Mr.
Amos Adekunle, who visited the town expressed shock on seeing the
extent of damage done to the residence of the traditional ruler.
Our correspondent, who also visited the
town, observed that the upper floor of the two-storey building where the
monarch resided was completely razed.
One of the chiefs, Adejumo Operinmade, told PUNCH Metro
that he was informed that some persons, who claimed to be OPC members,
came and demanded to see the monarch, but they were told that he was
asleep.
He stated that the strange visitors came
back and they pointed a gun to the head of the monarch’s housemaid.
They allegedly went to late Anibijuwon’s room and strangled the
octogenarian monarch who had been blind for over nine years.
Operinmade said, “We were told that some gunmen who claimed to be OPC members came and wanted to see Kabiyesi but they were told that he was sleeping.
“They came back and held the housemaid living with Kabiyesi hostage and went to where Kabiyesi was sleeping. But immediately they came out, fire started and Kabiyesi was burnt inside the house. His corpse was taken to the mortuary at LAUTECH.”
The Sasore of Ilase, Chief Oluwagbemiga
Oke, said there was no land dispute or chieftaincy tussle in the town,
wondering why the suspected arsonists killed the monarch.
Chief Jumoke Ogunkeyede, whose brother
gave the burnt residence to the monarch, also said he heard that the
hoodlums, who perpetrated the act, had an accident at the outskirts of
the town while escaping from the scene.
He said, “We heard that they came in a
red Mazda 323 and their car veered off into the bush while they were
speeding away. We called journalists from Osun State Broadcasting
Corporation at Ibokun, but when they got there to take photographs of
the car, they saw that the it had been set ablaze.
“They also removed the number plate of
the car. I believe that they set the car ablaze to hide their
identities. But the police could still find a way of unraveling those
behind the killing and arson.”
PUNCH NG
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