Barely few days after the murder of two traditional rulers in Ekiti State and another in Kwara, security agent have been making headways in arresting those behind the crimes.
First was the arrest of Alhaji Baboga believed to have spearheaded the Ekiti incidents.
Baboga was said to have named Olowofela in Igbara Odo, Ekiti as his accomplice.
Olowofela, an octogenarian, is based in Igbara Odo, Ekiti State with a chain of business enterprise cutting across the state, including a sawmill in Irele, the axis where the nefarious activities of the abductors are most pronounced.
He was arrested by a combine team of security apparatus from Kwara State, who stormed, Ijowa Ekiti, in Ajoni Local Council Development Area (LCDA), on Monday and dispatched a team to effect his arrest from his Igbara Odo abode.
It was joy mixed with shock when Olowofela was brought to Ijowa by the detached team in cuffs as villagers expressed surprise that he could be linked with the dreaded activities that have formed the nightmare of the people overtime.
It was gathered that Olowofela and his gang are responsible for the recent killings of the Elesun of Esun Ekiti, Oba David Babatunde Ogunsakin, the Olumojo of Imojo Ekiti, Oba Samuel Olatunde Olusola and the Olukoro of Ikoro, Kwara State, Oba Olusegun Aremu-Cole.
The Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Dare Ogundare, said it was the combined effort of the security agencies in the state that made them arrest the suspect.
While speaking to reporters, Baboga confessed to the crime, saying he was one of those who attacked the two traditional rulers. He claimed that he was threatened with being shot by the five team members who came to the road for the operation if he didn’t join. According to Lede, the gang brought ammunition while he was tending to his cows in the bush. Upon their request, he joined them.
He confesses: “We were five that came to the road for the operation. I am a herder and I have my cows in the bush. The other four threatened to shoot me if I did not join them in the operation. They brought the ammunition, and I was going about in the bush with my cows when they said I should join.
“When we were in the bush, we saw the vehicle conveying the three traditional rulers from a distance, and we jumped on the road. We didn’t plan to kill the two traditional rulers, but I would not know what happened, and my friends shot them, and we ran away.
“They left the bush immediately. They have been kidnapping people for ransom. I joined them once for it; they gave me N5,000 from the money they collected. It was when I came to town from the bush to buy Garri that I was arrested by the security operatives.”
