A retired civil servant, Adetunji Ajayi, has been slain after he raised alarm over the deepening security crisis at his locality in Ogun state.
Ajayi was butchered to death by hoodlums who invaded his residence in the Imasayi community, in the Yewa North Local Government Area of the South West State.
It’s gathered that the 62-year-old physically-challenged man was killed around 11am after his wife and children had gone to school.
A family member, Monsuru Jubril, told newsmen on Thursday that his uncle, who was a pensioner, was very vocal in his condemnation of the insecurity that plagues his locality as a respected elder in the community.
He lamented that despite his contributions to the development of the community, the hoodlums rendered his wife a widow and his children fatherless.
“We buried him (Ajayi) on Wednesday. He was a teacher at Oluaso High School in Imashayi. His wife is also a teacher. He had spent 35 years in service and had retired. The hoodlums came around 11am after his wife and children had gone to school. He was home alone.
“The hoodlums entered and used machetes to cut him. He was always complaining about the security of the community. After a video he made around February or March this year, what we discovered next was that he was attacked.” Punch quoted Jubril as saying.
A one-minute six seconds video clip showed Ajayi bemoaning how security had become rife in the community.
In the video, the deceased, while appealing to the state governor, Dapo Abiodun, to help in securing peace in the community, was heard saying, “There is insecurity. Things are not going as they ought to. People now carrying sacrifices and robbery attacks are on the rise.
“I have served 35 years, I’m a retired teacher. We don’t have peace of mind. Things are hard in Imasayi and we don’t want crises, we don’t kill ourselves here, but with the way things are going, there is a problem.”
A resident, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said since the change of the kingship in the community, there had been crises, including killings and robbery, among others.
Another source said some residents in the community could no longer sleep in their houses, adding that people in the community had been living in fear due to the atrocities committed by the hoodlums.
He said, “I cannot give you my name. We are saddened and scared. It has never happened like this before that someone would be murdered in his house. His house is an uncompleted building, and the floor has not even been done, so it is not that he had money, he was a retired civil servant. We will like the matter to be aired so that this can be checked”
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Omolola Odutola, confirmed the incident in a statement on Thursday.
He said the assailants gained access into the home of the physically-challenged man and murdered him.
He said the assailants made away with the buzz line of the deceased, adding that his remains have been deposited at the morgue in Ilaro General hospital.
The PPRO, however, said the police have no concrete lead or information on the attackers and the motive behind such diabolical act.
He added that “the Commissioner of Police has been briefed and he has assured the families that the killers, blood-thirsty and cruel-minded criminals will regret their actions as justice will be done and the killers will definitely not go scot-free.”
