Connect with us

Metro News

How I escaped gunmen’s bullets — Ekiti Monarch narrates how colleagues were killed

Published

on

 

The Alara of Ara in the Ikole Local Government Area of Ekiti State, Oba Adebayo Fatoba, has recounted his escape from a recent attack by gunmen that resulted in the tragic deaths of two of his colleagues last Monday.

 

On January 29, Fatoba escaped after gunmen killed two monarchs: the Onimojo of Imojo, Oba Olatunde Olusola, and the Elesun of Esun Ekiti, Oba Babatunde Ogunsakin, while returning from a security meeting.

The killing of the Ekiti monarchs raised eyebrows over the increasing insecurity in the country, with a spate of kidnappings across the country.

Speaking to Awikonko TV Live in a video on Sunday, Oba Adebayo Fatoba recounted the harrowing experience, stating that the community had sought permission from the state police to address the persistent attacks by herders on the communities.

 

His words: “We have a security committee in the local government. There are 25 communities in the Ikole Local Government Area. When Fulani people started coming in to graze and do all sorts of things, we got permission from the police to assist them.

 

“This was about three or four years ago. I was made the chairman of the committee. One of my counterparts who was killed (Onimojo of Imojo) was the deputy, and we used to go everywhere. We volunteered to do it for Yoruba land.

READ  Terrorists blow up Catholic church in Taraba

 

“So it happened that they came to check some people’s houses between Aiyebode and Aiyedun communities. They killed someone there. Then my deputy called to tell me that these people were back. It was on a Sunday, so I told him that I would come on Monday.”

 

“I was reading something on my phone when I suddenly felt that the driver slammed the brakes. As we looked up, we saw guns pointed at us. If they were kidnappers, they would ask us to get down, raise our hands, and so on.

 

“I wish I could show you my body; you would have seen the cuts.”

 

Narrating his escape, Fatoba stated that the situation was a “war zone” and dismissed claims that he ‘disappeared’.

 

He said, “I noticed that they didn’t understand English. They had a big machete, and they had other ones too. I saw an AK-47, a pump-action gun, and a locally made one. One of the assailants tried to hit my head with a weapon, but I used the door to protect myself, so it was the door that was hit.

READ  AMAA founder Peace Anyiam-Osigwe is dead

 

“It was a war zone. People who said that I disappeared—I want them to know that it is a lie. I ran to the security guards we put in that area because it had been a hotspot. I wanted to get to them.”

 

According to him, upon reaching one of the security guards, he instructed the guard to fire into the air, but the firearm jammed. He added that the security guards were gripped by fear and were unable to approach them for a rescue operation.

 

Speaking further, he added that his driver also escaped because the gunmen did not concentrate on him and only collected the car key.

 

He said, “They didn’t concentrate on the driver. He wore a shirt and had a small stature. They only collected the car key. They killed the others; we didn’t escape with the aid of spiritual power.”

 

He continued, “What happened was that they first came to me. Two came out from my right side and one from the left side. They came aggressively. The moment they collected the car key from my driver, they left him. He prostrated on the floor with his hands on the ground.

READ  Again, gunmen raze police station, magistrate, high courts in Imo

 

“As for me, I fought my way out, and they shot. I heard the gunshots. God didn’t allow the shots to hit me. By the time I looked back, my colleagues were on the ground. I don’t know how that happened. Some cars that were behind us had to reverse.

 

“I was reading something on my phone at the time, so the attack came as a surprise. I lost my phone, but the security guard had the phone number of the monarch, whose community was close by. It was the monarch who mobilised more security guards to meet us there.”

 

On Sunday, the Ekiti state police command paraded one Alhaji Baboga for his alleged involvement in the killing of the two traditional rulers.

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Metro News

Nigerian who relocated to UK in 2022 beats wife to death

Published

on

By

 

A United Kingdom-based Nigerian man, Olubunmi Abodunde, has beaten his wife, Taiwo, to death with their son’s skateboard, Daily Mail reports.

The couple, who had three children, arrived in the UK from Nigeria in 2022 and always clashed over alleged affairs and arguments about bills.

According to the news platform, 48-year-old Abodunde had been repeatedly investigated by Suffolk Police about domestic violence and was due to go on trial for murder but changed his plea to guilty on Wednesday after a jury had been sworn in.

During the abuse, officers heard ‘a number of bangs’ inside the house, which Abodunde had gone into, despite bail conditions imposed the day before that banned him from the property following another violent episode.

 

When they finally entered 25 minutes later, they found the wife, 41-year-old Taiwo, with her ‘skull smashed in’.

However, Judge Martyn Levett, sitting at Ipswich Crown Court, warned him the only possible sentence was life imprisonment.

 

Suffolk Constabulary has referred itself to the Independent Office of Police Conduct, which confirmed three officers were under investigation.

An IOPC spokesman said, “We advised two Suffolk officers that they are under investigation for potential breaches of the police standards of professional behaviour at the level of gross misconduct.

READ  Gunmen abduct Ijaw Youth Council President Igbifa

 

“We advised another officer that they are under investigation at the level of misconduct.”

 

Abodunde had a history of jealousy and suspicion and accused his wife of having affairs. He had been investigated by police a number of times over alleged domestic violence incidents before his wife’s death.

He was arrested on April 27 last year when police arrived at the couple’s home in Newmarket, Suffolk, and found Mrs Abodunde with a split lip.

Later that day, he was freed on police bail with the condition that he stayed away from the marital home and didn’t approach his wife.

But after working a night shift at Tesco, he went home just after 9 am to allegedly pick up his mobile phone.

 

Two officers arrived at 9.20 am to take a statement from Mrs Abodunde about the previous night’s incident and heard repeated banging noises inside.

 

But it wasn’t until 9.55 am that they forced their way in after getting approval from senior officers and found Mrs Abodunde ‘obviously dead’ near the front door.

A post-mortem examination later showed she had been throttled until she fell unconscious, then stamped on until her ribs were broken before her husband used the skateboard to finish her off. The blows were so violent that the skateboard was damaged.

READ  Gunmen kidnap Taraba monarch’s wives, son

Prosecutor Simon Spence KC told the court the banging officers heard was likely to have been Abodunde continuing to attack his wife after she was unconscious or dead.

Mrs Abodunde had a job as a care home assistant in Cambridge, but her husband, who had trained as a civil engineer, was unable to find work in his profession and took shifts at Tesco and Wickes.

 

After his arrest for the murder, Abodunde was taken to hospital “because he appeared to have some sort of mental episode”.

 

He later claimed in a police statement he had acted in self-defence, saying, “My wife has subjected me to physical abuse for a number of years.

“On November 28, we got into an argument. She ran at me with a knife, I grabbed the knife and cut my hand. I was defending myself.”

 

But the court heard while he did have an injury to his hand, there wasn’t a knife near his wife’s body.

 

Nneka Akudolu KC, defending, said the level of violence was ‘completely out of character’ for her client and might have been affected by medication he was taking. But she said no medical evidence would be provided to support this claim.

READ  Five shot dead, vigilante office burnt in fresh Anambra attack

 

Detective Inspector Dan Connick, of Suffolk Police, said after the hearing, “This was an awful attack on a woman that has had a lasting impact on the community and, most importantly, on the victim’s family.

 

‘We are pleased that Taiwo’s family will no longer have to go through the pain of a trial.

 

‘Our thoughts remain with Taiwo’s family and friends and hope this result will bring some small comfort to them.’

 

Taiwo Abodunde worked for Cambridge Manor Care Home, which provides dementia care and residential and respite care.

 

A spokesman for the facility, which is owned by TLC Care, said: ‘We are all deeply shaken and upset by the tragic death of Taiwo, who was a much-loved member of our home community.

 

‘Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with her family. Taiwo always cared for those we support with compassion and kindness, and she will be greatly missed by all of us and our residents.’

 

Abodunde was remanded in custody and will be sentenced on May 9.

Continue Reading

Metro News

Alleged procurement fraud: Court adjourns Emefiele‘s trial to June 24

Published

on

By

 

A federal capital territory (FCT) high court in Maitama has adjourned the trial of Godwin Emefiele, former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to June 24. 

 

When the case was called on Thursday, neither the prosecution counsel nor the defendant were in court. However, Emefiele was represented by one of his counsels.

 

I.D Ahmed, who represented the defendant, told the court that the prosecution served him a letter praying for an adjournment.

 

He also apologised to the court for the absence of his client.

 

Hamza Muazu, presiding judge, said: “Because you have a letter of adjournment from the prosecution does not mean the defendant should not be in court.”

 

Muazu then adjourned until June 24 and June 25 for continuation of trial.

 

The federal government, on January 18, amended the criminal charges filed against the former CBN governor.

 

The charges, formerly six counts, were increased to 20 counts.

 

READ  AMAA founder Peace Anyiam-Osigwe is dead

The amended charges border on alleged criminal breach of trust, forgery, conspiracy to commit forgery, procurement fraud and conspiracy to commit a felony.

 

At the previous hearing, the court agreed to vary Emefiele’s bail condition which previously restricted him to the FCT.

 

The court granted the application permitting the former CBN governor to travel within Nigeria but restrained him from leaving the country during the pendency of the case.

In some of the counts, the EFCC alleged that Emefiele, in January 2023, forged a document titled: “RE: PRESIDENTIAL DIRECTIVE ON FOREIGN ELECTION OBSERVER MISSIONS,” dated 26 January 2023 with Ref No. SGF.43/L.01/201.

 

The EFCC said Emefiele made the claim despite knowing it to be false and committed an offence contrary to section 1(1) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006, and punishable under section 1(3) of the same Act.

 

According to the amended charge marked CR/577/2023, Emefiele, on February 8, 2023, connived with one Odoh Ocheme, who is now on the run, to obtain $6.2m from the CBN, claiming that the SGF requested it “vide a letter dated 26th January 2023 with Ref No. SGF.43/L.01/201″.

 

READ  ATAGA USIFO: Chidinma, sister Chioma, to face trial for murder

Meanwhile, the EFCC had also declared Magaret, Emefiele’s wife, wanted for money laundering.

 

Continue Reading

Metro News

Mother, son, one other electrocuted in Ogun market

Published

on

By

 

No fewer than three people, including a mother and child, were reportedly electrocuted at Mowe Market in Obafemi-Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State.

The incident reportedly happened on Monday following the restoration of power after the Sunday downpour.

 

The Chairman of the Local Government, Ambassador Adesina Ogunsola, during his visit to the market on Wednesday gave a seven-day notice to all the traders with shops and stalls under the high-tension powerline to vacate to forestall a repeat of the tragic incident.

 

An eyewitness said that the electric shock was from the step-down transformer suspended on an electrical pole next to the shop where the incident happened, just as the shop owners arrived for their daily sales in the market.

 

The woman and her son were said to have been burnt beyond recognition.

 

The Director of Information at the Obafemi Owode Local Government, Segun Soneye, confirmed the incident on Thursday.

READ  Again, gunmen raze police station, magistrate, high courts in Imo

Soneye, in a statement, blamed the incident on the erection of shops made of iron under the powerline by the traders.

 

He said, “The chairman of the council had visited the affected shop owners and commiserated with them over the incident.

“The LG boss has already given shop owners a seven-day ultimatum to evacuate their make-shift shops built under the high tension powerline to forestall the recurrence of the incident.”

Speaking during his visit to the market, Ogunsola who commiserated with the families of the victims, also blamed the incident on the nonchalant attitude of the.

 

The LG boss wondered why people would disregard safety rules and have their shops close to electrical poles that carry step-down transformers.

 

Ogunsola, while giving the vacation order to the traders with shops and stalls under the powerline, said, “Let me also say that everyone that has extended its shop beyond where it should be, particularly those under high-tension cables should start removing it from today.”

READ  Gunmen invade hospital, kidnap medical doctor on duty

The police spokesman, Omolola Odutola, also confirmed the incident but said only the mother, Ujuwa Okechukwu, died from the incident.

Continue Reading

Trending News