Tragedy: How Osun Monarch Was Killed, Set Ablaze In Palace

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Chiefs and residents of Ilashe Ijesa in Obokun Local Government Area of Osun State on Thursday narrated how the monarch of the town, Oba Adesina Anibijuwon, was killed by suspected members of OPC who were said to have strangled him and left his corpse inside his residence which they set ablaze.

“We were told that some gunmen who claimed to be OPC members came and wanted to see Kabiyesi but they were told that he was sleeping. 

  “They came back and held the housemaid living with Kabiyesi hostage and went to where Kabiyesi was sleeping. But immediately they came out, fire started and Kabiyesi was burnt inside the house.”

Those who recovered his corpse from the building said the charred remains of Oba Anibijuwon were taken to the mortuary at Ladoke Akintola University of Technology Teaching Hospital in Osogbo by Osun Ambulance Service at around 10.30pm on Wednesday.

The ambulance that conveyed the remains of the monarch was said to have been escorted to the mortuary by armed policemen and some residents. They feared that those who killed him might want to seize his corpse.

Some residents wondered why some chiefs in the town went into hiding when the hoodlums invaded the palace. They are urging the police to interrogate the said chiefs to know if they were culpable.

The upper floor of the two-storey building where the monarch resided was completely razed.

One of the chiefs, Adejumo Operinmade, told Punch that he was informed that some persons, who claimed to be OPC members, came and demanded to see the monarch, but they were told that he was asleep.

He stated that the strange visitors came back and they pointed a gun to the head of the monarch’s housemaid. They allegedly went to late Oba Anibijuwon’s room and strangled the octogenarian monarch who had been blind for over nine years.

Another Chief, Jumoke Ogunkeyede, whose brother gave the burnt residence to the monarch, said he heard that the hoodlums, who perpetrated the act, had an accident while escaping from the town.

“We heard that they came in a red Mazda 323 and their car veered off into the bush while they were speeding away. We called journalists from Osun State Broadcasting Corporation at Ibokun, but when they got there to take photographs of the car, they saw that the car had been set ablaze. 

“They also removed the number plate of the car. I believe that they set the car ablaze to hide their identities. But the police could still find a way of unraveling those behind the killing and arson.”

Nigeria police say they are investigating and they are on top of the situation.