Ondo Crisis: Pupil Killed, Over 40 Hospitalized as Armed Men Destroyed Dethroned Ex-Oba's Palace

It was a black Thursday for the indigenes of Ilaje community area of Ondo State when over 50 armed men stormed the palace of the ex-Oba, Prince Adebanjo at about 2:00am killing a pupil by name Marvelous Akintubuwa living over 40 persons wounded while properties worth millions of naira were grossly destroyed.

Report has it that there has been some underlying issues between the ex-Oba Prince Adebanjo Mafimisebi and Oba Obateru Akinruntan the current Olugbo of Ugbo, some of which are land dispute, the dethronement of the ex-Oba in 2007 which he sees as unjust verdict by court after ruling for 25 years among many other issues.

In the course of investigation to ascertain the true cause of the attack, an insider who pleaded anonymity disclosed that the ex-Oba has always seen himself as king and has never for ones seen the current Olugbo of Ugbo, Oba Obateru as the king with reason been that the dethronement was an unjust court verdict as alleged by him and that is why he(Prince Adebanjo) is collaborating with the state government to see how he can get back his throne. So, when the community boys heard of his secretive strategic plan, they then chose to lunch an attack and that's why the whole situation turned out this way.

Prince Idowu, a legal counsel to Prince Adebanjo while speaking to news men said that the families of the ex-Oba were driven away from the palace single handedly built by him during his reign in the community adding that the armed boys that perpetrated the attack just acted the script written by Oba Obateru Akinruntan. 

Another source living within the vicinity disclosed that land ownership is the major cause of this attack adding that Oba Obateru has once told the ex-Oba to move out of the land on which his palace is sited with reason being that he(Oba Obateru) wants to build his own palace on that same land and the ex-Oba replied him that the land and his palace belong to him(Prince Adebanjo) which makes it impossible for him to move.

While narrating how the incident happened, Prince Idowu told news men at Akure that "the boys after gaining entrance into the house at midnight, broke the children's (Adetomiwa Mafimisebi and Abimbade Mafimisebi) head with axes and macheted the ex-Oba's Olori, Femi Mafimisebi inflicting pain on her" adding that the indigenes who came to rescue the family joined the league of those that were rescued as a little boy was later discovered floating on a river suspectedly thrown there by the bandits.

When asked about the attack on the ex-Oba, Olugbo of Ugbo(Oba Obateru Akinruntan) dissociates himself from the attack saying he can never support any attack on his subject but as regard the land dispute between him and his predecessor, he said "the residence has been in existence long before his short reign, how can the same residence be claimed to have been owned by him?"

The indigenes of the citadel-of-oil in Ilaje area of Ondo State called on Governor Akeredolu and security agencies to come to their aid and carry out a thorough investigation of this attack very urgently as people are now scared which is now leading to massive exodus of dwellers to neighboring communities.