Hell was let loose Monday in
Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital after a masquerade allegedly shot dead an
Islamic cleric identified as Lateef Sabiu during Egungun festival. This
simultaneously led to a reprisal attack as youths allegedly razed down a
building belonging to traditional worshippers in protest against the murder of
one of their members. Vanguard gathered that the 22-year Islamic Cleric was allegedly
shot dead Sunday evening while he was on a motorcycle popularly called Okada
during a ‘stop and search’ in Ijaye. It was gathered that the masquerade
popularly called “lehin Aponle” was allegedly armed with guns and other
dangerous weapons. Confirming the incident Police Public Relations Officer,
PPRO, Muyiwa Adejobi, told newsmen in Abeokuta that the Command had arrested
three persons along with the masquerade over the murder of the late Cleric.
Adejobi noted that the Command had suspended further activities of the year
2013 edition of masquerade festival in the state. According to Adejobi, “those
we arrested in connection with the murder are one Ajayi Olabintan (40), Shittu
Adeyemi, Wahed Babalola and the masquerade.”
Also speaking over the matter, one
of the community leaders, the Balogun of Ijaye and Aare of Egbaland, Chief
Ganiyu Babayeju-Alemo, said the crisis has forced the Egba Traditional Council
to suspend other activities for the 2013 Egungun festival in Abeokuta. In
another development, gunmen on Sunday night brutally killed a 60- year old
woman, Amoke Musuru, and her grand-son, 2, Balqis, in Ago-Oba area of Abeokuta.
Vanguard gathered that, the killers broke into the one room apartment of the
woman in the family storey building located within Ajiko compound. The
assassins according to the finding, smashed the head of the duo with iron rod
without the knowledge of other residents of the building. When vanguard visited
the scene, blood of the deceased littered the room, where the late Baliqs and
her grandmother popularly called Iya Saubana were murdered.
Vanguard learnt that the police had
taken away the corpses for autopsy, which were said to have handed over to the
family for burial. It was gathered that those arrested and interrogated by the
police over the killing had been also released. Confirming the incident, the
Police Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, said two persons had been
interrogated over the dastardly killings. According to him, “they (the
deceased) were murdered by unknown persons. We have visited the scene and two
persons have been arrested for interrogation to help us with the investigation.
” However, the children of the late
woman, Saburi and Hakeem Moshood, expressed shock over the ugly development.
The children who reside in Ibadan, said they came to Abeokuta to make
arrangement for the re-burial of their grandmother whose corpse was exhumed
during the demolition exercise by the State government before they met their
mother and a child in their pool of blood. MURIC also called on the Muslim
community in the area to exercise patient and desist from taking laws into
their hands, adding that security operatives and the state government should be
allowed to take charge of the situation.
