AS the police in Osun State stepped up investigations into the Wednesday’s killing of the Alase of Ilase-Ijesa, in Obokun Local Government Area of Osun State, Oba Adesina Alobijuwon, two traditional chiefs and six kingmakers in the town were on Friday interrogated over the matter.
Saturday Tribune gathered that the eight top indigenes were invited to the Ibokun Divisional Police Station, where they were grilled for several hours.
The monarch was killed while his palace was set ablaze by his assailants, alleged to be members of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC). The incident happened at about 8.00 p.m.
However, it could not be ascertained if the invited chiefs were allowed to go back home at the end of the interrogation.
The Commissioner of Police in the state, Mrs Dorothy Gimba, has also paid an on-the-spot visit to the burnt palace.
The Commissioner for Home Affairs, Culture and Tourism, Alhaji Sikiru Ayedun, said the state government had been assured of thorough investigation of the matter by the police with a view to bringing the culprits to book.
No one had any insight about what the motive of the assailants was or what transpired between them and the monarch while the attack was going on in the palace. What was clear, however, was that by the time the ‘visitors’ left, the palace was up in flames with the 80-year-old Oba Alobijuwon still inside.
What made the incident even more heart-rending was the fact that the hapless monarch was blind.
By the time the inferno subsided, the monarch’s charred remains were found inside his room.
Residents of the town are still at a loss as to what led to the situation.
A traditional chief in the town, Chief Oluwagbemiga Oke, told journalists at the scene of the incident that the burnt house, which served as the monarch’s palace, was donated by a prominent indigene. He described the deal dished out to the monarch as callous and inhuman.
“The monarch had attended to five guests who came in a pink Mazda car before the incident happened. From what we were told, the house got burnt shortly after the people left,” he added.
“The monarch had attended to five guests who came in a pink Mazda car before the incident happened. From what we were told, the house got burnt shortly after the people left,” he added.
An official of the state Fire Service, Mr Michael Ogundipe, said an assessment of the inferno indicated that it was a case of arson.
Conducting state officials, including the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Sunday Akere; Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Alhaji Sikiru Ayedun and Special Adviser to the Governor on Security, Mr Amos Adekunle, round the scene of the incident, Ogundipe insisted that the burning of the palace was a deliberate action.
Two of the monarch’s children and his housemaid were said to have escaped from the building before it burned down.
A prominent indigene of the town, Chief Jumoke Ogunkeyede, said officials of the state ambulance services and those of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) had retrieved the corpse of the monarch from among the ruins and moved it to the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) Teaching Hospital, Osogbo, where a post mortem would be conducted.
He said frantic efforts to stop the fire by men of the state Fire service at about 10.30pm on Wednesday did not pay off as the fire service vehicle ran out of water.
An Ijesha high chief, the Omu-Owode Ijesha, Chief Adejumo Operinde, said following the unfortunate incident, necessary rituals would be performed in accordance with the tradition of the town.
He noted that since the traditional ruler ascended the throne, there had been peace and progress in the town, wondering why some people would truncate that experience and visit such horror on the town.
Mr Akere gave the assurance that the state government would provide necessary assistance and support for the town in the trying moments.
He urged the people to report strange movements in the town, saying that the police needed their collaboration to provide adequate security.
He urged the people to report strange movements in the town, saying that the police needed their collaboration to provide adequate security.
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