On How He Escaped
Oba Adebayo Fatoba, the Alara of Ara-Ekiti, in Ikole Local Government Area of Ekiti State, has narrated how he escaped from the kidnappers who killed his colleagues.
Fatoba, along with two other monarchs from the state – Onimojo of Imojo Ekiti in Oye LG and the Elesun of Esun Ekiti in Ajoni, Ikole Local Government of Ekiti State, were attacked by the gunmen while returning from a meeting.
The other two monarchs were killed by the assailants while Fatoba escaped.
Speaking on Awikonko TV Live, in a now viral video, the Oba said he did not disappear from the scene of the incident, as has been speculated.
The traditional ruler described his late colleagues as brave leaders who sacrificed their lives for the peace of their communities, Ekiti and Yoruba land.
Narrating how the incident occurred, Oba Fatoba said: “We have about 25 communities in the Ikole-Ekiti and there was a security committee which I am the chairman of and one of the deceased monarchs was the vice chairman.
“There have been repeated attacks on farmers in our areas because we have large forests here. So, when the attack was becoming too frequent on our people, we sought permission from the police to intervene and the permission was granted.
“So, when we received another report of an attack, where one of our people was killed between Ayebode and Ayedun, we decided to move in. We had visited the community where the incident happened. We were discussing how the late Onimojo, an Associate Professor, was planning to move from the Federal University of Technology in Akure (FUTA) to the Federal University at Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE) on Irele road when they appeared from nowhere.
“We did not know they were many because about three of them pointed guns at us. We tried to struggle with them but they began to fire at us from different angles. Though the bullets did not enter, but I realised that they were fully armed with sophisticated weapons. We ran from the scene to a checkpoint mounted by our local hunters.
“But seeing the firearms in the hands of the kidnappers, the local hunters couldn’t advance. I even asked one of our local hunters to return fire but his Dane gun could not work. By the time I looked back, I saw my fellow obas in the pool of their blood.
“It was really a very sad experience. My colleague monarchs sacrificed their lives and died for their people. I would admit that the bullets did not penetrate through my body but I did not disappear, as being speculated.”
