Two traditional rulers in Ikole Local Government Area of Ekiti State were on monday killed by gunmen suspected to be kidnappers.
The two traditional rulers were the Elesun of Esun Oba Babatunde Ogunsakin and Olumojo of Imojo, Oba Samuel Olatunjiwhile the Alara of Ara-Ekiti, Oba Adebayo Fatoba escaped from the scene.
The monarchs were allegedly ambushed and killed by the arm-wielding attackers along Ipao-Irele-Oke Ako while returning from Ogbe, a neighboring town in Yagba West Local Government Area of Kogi state.
The chairman of the Ajoni Local Council Development Area, Micheal Ogungbemi confirmed the incident to The Nationonline.
Ogungbemi, who condemned the attack, said the gunmen attempted to kidnap the three traditional rulers.
Ogungbemi, who lamented the killing of the revered traditional rulers , said he had mobilised local security outfits including the Amotekun corps to comb the forest in a bid to arrest the perpetrators
According to him: “ I just returned from the scene of the unfortunate incident along Oke-Ako road and I can confirm that two traditional rulers; the Elesun of Esun-Ekiti and Onimojo of Imojo-Ekiti were killed by the gunmen who ambushed them.
“ The Alara of Ara-Ekiti managed to escape from the incident, he was the one driving when the incident happened.
“ We have evacuated the remains of the monarchs and deposited them in the morgue at the Ikole General Hospital.
“ Our local security outfit and Amotekun have been drafted to the scene and the bush to arrest the bandits who committed this dastardly act.”
Ogungbemi, who appealed to the Federal Government to approve usage of arms by the local security outfits in the State, said the attacks have been recurring in the area in the last few years.
“ I am extremely sad with the situation and I want to call on the government to allow our local security network to carry arms because the traditional ruler who escaped told us the gunmen were carrying AK-47 and other dangerous weapons. These people are killing us and it is becoming unbearable.
The secretary of Majority Obas of Ekiti Land (MOBEL) and Onikun of Ikun-Ekiti, Oba Olatunde David Olushola who condemned the killing of the traditional rulers said the time has come for the government to localize security system in order to address the growing insecurity in the land.
“ The two traditional rulers were active members of our association(MOBEL) and it is very sad.
“ We have been talking over the years but government is paying lip service to the issue of security. The time has come for them to localize the issue of security and sit down with the traditional rulers to secure our communities, we know what to do.
“ This is not issue about money , government should immediately sit down with the traditional rulers for us to secure our land and maintain peace,” he said.
When contacted, the police spokesman in the state, Sunday Abutu said: “I will get the details and get back please.”
