Killers left note, calling him useless, promiscuous—POLICE

Gunmen ‘ve been monitoring him, neighbours suspect—SON

By Daud Olatunji

ABEOKUTA—Unknown gunmen, suspected to be assassins, Wednesday night, sneaked into the residence of an Egba Chief, Oluwo of Ikanna, Chief Moses Oyebade, at Ago-Oba area of Abeokuta South Local Government Area of Ogun State, and shot him dead.

Vanguard gathered that the late Egba chief, who marked his 75th birthday in Lagos two weeks ago, was reportedly shot several times through the window of his bedroom at 12a.m., while he was asleep.

It was further gathered that Chief Oyebade was the only occupant in his house at the time of the incident.

It was learned that other chiefs at Ikanna reported the case at Ibara Police Station, which prompted the police to race to the house, forced the door open and took the remains of Chief Oyebade to the mortuary.

Confirming the incident, Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, told Vanguard that the assailants left a note before they exited the scene.

Adejobi said: “We have a case of murder at hand: Apena of Ikanna, Chief Moses Oyebade. Some men went to his residence, broke his window and shot him at 12a.m.

Note

IGP-Solomon-Arase

“We have examined the place and recovered a note, which contained a message written in English and Yoruba languages.

‘’The content read: ‘Useless man. Oni dokudo (promiscuous).’

“From preliminary investigation, it could be a case of assassination. We will invite some people for interrogation.

“State Police Commissioner, Valentine Ntomchukwu, has directed that the case be transferred to Department of Criminal Investigation.

“The perpetrators would not go scot free. The commissioner of police sympathises with the family, even the Kabiyesi, Alake of Egbaland, has spoken to us from London.”

Meanwhile, the first son of the deceased, Oluyemi Oyebade, said he got the news through a phone call from a brother of his in the early hours of Wednesday.

The son, resident in Benin, said he had earlier been informed of unknown persons, who used to trail his late father.

Son’s story

He said gunmen had, on two occasions, visited the house but could not gain access into the building, which must have made them shoot his father through the window this time.

He said: “My father was sleeping in his bedroom. The bed is close to the window. As the glass was broken, he woke up to see what happened.

“He took his torch to see who was there. That was how he was shot. The first gunshot hit his hand, which was seriously damaged. Maybe when he was still struggling, they shot him again. I guess they shot him three times.”

… blames neighbours

Oluyemi, however, expressed displeasure that none of his father’s neighbours could come out after his murderers had left, to assist his father who he believed might have lived if he had got help early.

He said: “The funniest part of it was that when that incident occurred, nobody came to his rescue. If you look at that room, the blood on the floor was more than what you see in an abattoir.

“It means he struggled till death, while the neighbours could not assist him; they pretended they did not know what happened.

“How can you be living in an environment where you call yourselves neighbours and none of you could even come out to assist?

“It is just unfortunate. If I have my way, I think everybody in the neighbourhood should be arrested and investigated.

“Can these people who are very close say they did not know something happened here? I am beginning to suspect that there are accomplices within the neighbourhood.”