By Wole Adedeji, Ilorin
Mysteries surrounding the death of three suspected kidnappers in the suburb of the sleepy town of Oro Ago in Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara State is still foggy, according to this reporter’s findings.
The three were said to be notorious for unholy activities including kidnapping in the area and they were alleged to be members of an eight-man gang of kidnappers who just returned from a kidnapping spree in Iwo, Osun State two weeks ago when nemesis through thunder strike caught up with them.
According to sources in Oro Ago, it was the local hunters (vigilante group) members who of late had been assigned by the people of the agrarian communities to keep watch and help ward off the persistent threats occasioned by the people believed to be Fulani herders.
Cases of kidnapping and demands for ransoms and occasional killing of innocent citizens in both Oro Ago and the neighbouring communities of Isin Local Government had become rampart in recent time particularly, when some Fulani herders suspected to have been displaced from Oyo State last year by the locals there resettled in Kwara State.
Also, it is a known fact that there is a concentration of Fulani settlers in Oro Ago for some decades leading to strong inter-marriages as well as sharing many other things in common among themselves.
However, in the last ten years, the table appeared to have turned and pockets of bloody clashes began to be recorded. The situation took a worse dimension and turned to outright kidnappings of the host locals where huge ransoms were forcefully collected before such victims could regain their freedom.
This time around, however, without any stiff resistance from the locals, it was strangely a thunder strike that killed three of the suspected kidnappers in a bush where they were allegedly hiding to hatch their evil plans. They were said to suffer burns from the thunder strikes, leading to their death.
The development, according to the sources, is lending credence to the Yoruba believe in ‘Sango’; the god of thunder reputed to have mystical powers to avenge on the enemies of his people through thunder strikes.
This reporter was told that the precarious state of insecurity in recent time in the area caused the communities in the two council areas to form a joint local vigilance team aimed at checking security challenges in the local Governments in the southern axis of the state.
Members of the vigilante group who stumbled on the burnt bodies of the alleged kidnappers reportedly recorded it in a video which has gone viral in Kwara State.
In the 73 seconds clip, the decomposing bodies of three young persons, presumably in their 20s, already burnt beyond recognition in a bush, with flies all over the area were seen and a voice was heard saying “we’re members of the vigilance team in Igbomina Kwara. Our efforts against those perpetrating evil and kidnapping people in our area had yielded fruits.
“Thunder struck them dead. Three of them. God will continue to make us successful against the evil doers. We shall overcome them all by the grace of God. Thank you all.”
Also, another video clip showed some Fulani herders, said to be relations of the victims of the thunder strike, in a bush, bemoaning the death of their own. They described the incident as an act of God that could not be questioned by anyone and affirmed that thunder strike killed the three young.
A member of the Oro-Ago Development Union (ODU), a sociocultural organisation of indigenes of the area, who preferred anonymity confirmed the incident. He said members of the vigilance team in the area had briefed the ODU on the development.
Also, the newly posted Police Commissioner to Kwara State, Ebunoluwarotimi Adelesi, said the command and its men had already commenced investigations into the development to ascertain the veracity of the incident.