An Amotekun operative identified as Samuel Tope has been killed during a bloody clash with a soldier in Ijeda Ijesa community of Osun State.
PUNCH Metro also learnt that another Amotekun operative, whose name could not be immediately ascertained, sustained serious injury in the clash.
A source in Ijeda-Ijesa, who preferred anonymity to avoid being attacked, while speaking on the incident on Sunday, said the soldier, identified as Fiyinfoluwa Opejobi, an indigene of the community, had returned home to conclude his marriage ceremony scheduled for Saturday.
“But on Friday, he (Opejobi) was invited into the Amotekun office in Ijeda for questioning. There was a robbery incident and Opejobi was invited by the Amotekun men for questioning over the incident. An operative of the corps raised allegations against him. He honoured the invite on Friday.
“But on Saturday, after he had concluded his mini marriage ceremony which brought him back home, he told two of his friends that joined him for the event that someone had made a false allegation against him and they went into town to look for the person. They eventually found the man who reported him around the Ijesa Ijesa Roundabout. They beat him to a state of coma and left the scene,” a resident of the community had said.
Displeased by the action of the soldiers, colleagues of the Amotekun man who was beaten, reportedly formed a search party and combed the town in search of them.
Another resident of the community, living along Ijebu Jesa road, who also preferred anonymity, said the Amotekun men who were searching for the soldiers eventually found them in a hotel, where they engaged in bloody clashes.
“The soldier and his friends were wearing military attire, but they were not fully kitted. When information got to them that colleagues of the man whom they beat were looking for them, they left their rooms and waited in front of the hotel for them.
“I was inside the hotel when all that was going on. Before the Amotekun men got to the hotel premises, those soldiers were already waiting for them. It was during their clash that Tope Samuel was killed. During the clash, Opejobi was also injured. He had an open wound at the upper part of his head,” an eyewitness said.
Meanwhile, in a statement by the Osun Amotekun Corps Commander, Mr. Adekunle Omoyele, the Corps claimed that Opejobi killed Tope without provocation.
Omoyele’s statement partly read, “The incident occurred around 5:45 p.m. when a soldier, identified as Opejobi Fiyinfoluwa, who was recently recruited into the Nigerian Army, launched an unprovoked assault on the Amotekun operative.
“Fiyinfoluwa, dressed in military camouflage, approached the Amotekun Station in Ijebu-Jesa with hostile intent. He allegedly declared that part of his reason for joining the army was to ‘deal decisively’ with Amotekun personnel. Shortly after, while Officer Tope was riding a motorcycle, the soldier and unidentified accomplices stopped him and launched a violent attack.
“The assailants reportedly struck Tope on the head with a blunt object, causing him to fall from the bike. The brutal assault reportedly lasted for about 20 minutes, with no intervention, leaving Tope in a pool of blood.
After the attack, the soldier reportedly fled the scene on a commercial motorcycle.”
Omoyele added that the incident was reported at the Divisional Police Headquarters in Ijebu-Jesa and the Military Barracks in Ede.
But when contacted on Sunday evening, the Osun Police Command spokesperson, Abiodun Ojelabi, said an investigation had already begun into the matter.
Ojelabi further explained, “Based on the report they made, it seems the Amotekun personnel and the soldier had a misunderstanding before yesterday (Saturday).
“Yesterday, according to what they said, the soldier attacked the two Amotekun men. And in the process, he brought out his jackknife, which he used on both of them.
“The Amotekun officers sustained injuries, and in the process of taking them to the hospital, one of them gave up the ghost, while the other one is still receiving treatment at the hospital. We are going on with our investigation.”
Efforts to obtain the official reaction of the Nigerian Army to the allegations made by our correspondent against the suspects were unsuccessful.
In a response to the enquiry by our correspondent, an officer identified as the Chief of Staff to the Commander of the barracks, in a text message, simply wrote, “Kindly go to the barracks, Sir and confirm accordingly.”
PUNCH.
