Angry youth protest in Ekiti, hold monarch hostage

Posted by admin Ekiti, State News Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011

Rampaging youths in Igede in Irepodun/Ifelodun Local Government Area of Ekiti State went on the rampage, on Tuesday, and held the town’s monarch, Oba James Aladesuru, and members of his council hostage over the mysterious death of a middle-aged woman in the town.

The body of the woman, Mrs Taiwo Oluwole, said to be the wife of the pastor in charge of Zion Baptist Church in the town, was discovered, on Sunday, after her family members raised the alarm that she went missing, on Saturday.

The angry youth made several bonfires on the roads in the town in protest of what they suspected was a ritual murder or deadly rape act at Ule-Ona, a community in the suburb of Aramoko, a neighbouring town.

The Nigerian Tribune gathered that the deceased’s husband raised the alarm on Saturday evening when his wife, who accompanied him to the farm in the morning but left for home earlier, could not find her at home several hours after he returned home from the same farm.

The angry youth defied the police and stormed the palace in their hundreds and threatened to burn down the palace should the monarch fail to address them.

One of the protesting youths, Mr. Ayo Akintola, told the Nigerian Tribune that he was a member of the search team that recovered the body of Mrs Oluwole from the farm, on Sunday, adding that her body was no mutilated.

Akintola said the killing of Mrs. Akintola was one too many as, according to him, “two youths from Igede lost their motorbikes to the gang terrorising the farmstead the day the incident happened,” and called for concerted efforts to arrest the situation.

Oba Aladesuru, in his reaction, told newsmen that efforts had been on by leaders of the town to ensure that the police got to the root of the matter, adding that he learnt of the incident, on Saturday.
He said the anger of the youth against him as well as the invectives poured on him by them were “unwarranted and misplaced.”

The Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in Igede, Mr. Raheem Adejumo, and his men had a hectic day in controlling the mob, as the youth engaged them in an attempt to gain entry into where the king was holding a meeting with his chiefs.

The youth claimed that the killings at Ule-Ona had been going on for a while unchecked and alleged that the police and other security agencies had not done enough to check them.

They barricaded all the roads in the town, sang war songs and demanded that the monarch and the elders of the community must unravel the mystery behind the death of Mrs Oluwole.

The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the Ekiti State command, Mr. Mohammed Jimoh, confirmed the death of the woman and said the command was yet to receive a comprehensive report on the death.

Jimoh, an Assistant Superintendent of Police, promised that police in the state would investigate into the matter and bring those behind the crime to book.

-Leadershipwp_posts