Monarch Who Escaped When Bandits Killed His Two Ekiti Colleagues Tells His Story

The Alara of Ara in the Ikole Local Government Area of Ekiti State, Oba Adebayo Fatoba, has revealed how he narrowly escaped from gunmen who attacked and killed two of his colleagues last Monday.

The Monarch who recounted his traumatic experience in an interview with Awikonko TV on Sunday, stated that the community had sought permission from the police to tackle herders who have been attacking the communities.

“We have a security committee in the local government. There are 25 communities in Ikole Local Government Area. When Fulani people started coming in to graze and do all sorts, 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.

“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”, he said.

Fatoba continued “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”.

He said that he noticed that they didn’t understand English and they had with them a big machete, an AK-47, a pump-action gun and a locally-made one and other dangerous weapons.

Fatoba recalled that as he wanted to get out of the vehicle, one of the assailants tried to hit his head with a weapon but he used the door to protect himself “so it was the door that was hit; it was a war zone,” he said.

The Monarch added that he could hear the sound of gunshots behind him as he ran. He also countered the account of those who said he disappeared on the scene.

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

He said when he got to one of the security guards, he asked him to shoot into the air but the gun jammed. The Monarch further revealed that due to fear, the guards couldn’t come near them for a rescue operation.

The monarch added, “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.

“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,” he said.

In response to this, the Ekiti State Police Command disclosed that its operatives have arrested one suspect linked to the killing of the two traditional rulers.

The arrested suspect identified as Babusa Lede, had confessed to involvement in the killing of the two monarchs according to the Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Dare Ogundat. The AIG added that efforts were on to apprehend others involved.

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