How Policemen Hacked My Dad To Death, Shot My Cousin – Son Of Ogun Farmer Labelled Terrorist Speaks From Hideout

 

The Ogun State Police Command had recently killed two villagers in Ogun Village and labeled them terrorists few hours after a Police Inspector, Omolayo Olajide was killed in a clash between some herders and Yoruba farmers in Saala Orile, Yewa-North Local Government Area of Ogun State.

But a new twist has been added to the matter as a son of Sola Olugbele, one of the villagers killed, 25-year old Alani Ojugbele has recounted what happened.

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Alani who claimed to be in hiding when the murder of his father took place explained the circumstances  of the incident. 

‘I escaped by a whisker when the police ambushed my father and his nephew. They rained bullets on them, but the bullets did not penetrate their bodies. One of the policemen later moved closer to them and forcibly took the Dane gun belonging to Bara (Kolawole) and shot him to death.

“The same policeman approached my father, took his machete and hacked him to death. I saw how he killed them from where I hid, “said 25-year-old survivor, Alani Ojugbele.

The Police had killed Kolawole Bara and Sola Ojugbele in an obvious reprisal to the death of Omolayo Olajide, a Police personnel.

 Ojugbele was said to be a nephew to the village head, Bara, popularly called Alape, was identified as a younger brother to the village head of Adekan village near Saala-Orile, Chief Adisa Bara.

Alani Ojugbele, son of Sola Ojugbele who lost his life in the incident told PUNCH correspondent that he himself and both Kolawole Bara and his father, Sola Ojugbele were on a motorcycle moving around the villages a few minutes after the violent incident and they were stopped abruptly by a team of policemen around Saala-Orile who shot at them.

He said “I am a farmer. I was with my father when he was killed. Some people came to our house to tell him that the baale wanted to see him and he left. When he returned home, he said the baale asked him to check the village and give him a report of what was happening there. That was how I went with my father to visit the area. When we were returning, my father said that we should pass Saala Orile.

“We decided to assess the areas from Saala Orile to Ijaka-Oko. We saw some policemen at Vulcaniser bus stop at Saala Orile junction and we passed them by towards Ijaka-Oke. We later turned towards Ijaka-Oko after looking around the area. On our way back, the police were still at the junction with their van

“The bike we sat on was driven by Alape (Bara). We went through the area and we turned back towards Saala-Orile to pass through the area to our house. As we passed Ijaka-Oke to Saala-Orile Junction, we met some policemen and one of them alighted from the van and started shooting at us.

“As he shot at my father and Alape, the bullets didn’t penetrate their bodies. But after he exhausted the bullets in his gun, he moved towards them and snatched the gun held by Alape and shot at him at a close range. The gun penetrated his body and killed him. Another cop at the same time dragged my dad from the back and used a machete to kill him.

“I fled when the cop started shooting and hid somewhere around. If not for the fact that I was also fortified from bullets, I might have been killed too. It was the police that hacked my father to death and shot Alape dead. After killing them, they put their bodies in their van and drove away. It happened on the Saala-Orile Road near a mechanic shop in the area. My father was not a bandit. He was a farmer. Alape was also not a bandit, he was a hunter.”

The State Police Command on its part said Inspector Omolayo Olajide was shot dead by terrorists during a gun duel in the area, while labeling Bara and Ojugbele killed in the cross-fire as terrorists.

Ogun State Police Spokesman, DSP Abimbola Oyeyemi in a statement said the operatives of the state police command in a gun battle in the forest following an attack on Fulani herdsmen had gunned down two terrorists on Tuesday, January 24, 2022 in Saala-Orile forest in the Yewa-North LGA.

The Police mouthpiece further claimed that the two villagers (Bara and Ojugbele) were killed following a distress call received by policemen attached to Ayetoro division that a group of terrorists were attacking some Fulani herdsmen at Isaala Orile forest.

According to him, the DPO Ayetoro, CSP Bernard Ediogboyan, quickly led his men and operatives of the joint security intervention squad to the scene.

He said, “On sighting the policemen, the bandits opened fire on them and the policemen replied fire for fire.

“At the end of the encounter which lasted for about 20 minutes, two amongst the bandits were shot dead while others escaped with varying degrees of gunshot injuries. Regrettably, an inspector of police, by name Omolayo Olajide, lost his life during the gun duel.”

 

But the account of the villagers seem not to resonate with that of the police as they said those killed were not terrorists but hunters and farmers.

According to the villagers, Bara and Ojugbele were village high chiefs who worked with the village head, Chief Adisa Bara of Adekan village.

CREDIT: PUNCH