There is tension in Akinmorin, a serene community in Afijio Local Government Area of Oyo State.
The crisis is traced to a middle-aged
man, Kehinde Olaleye, who recently chopped off his neighbour’s left arm with a
sword.
Kehinde, popularly referred to as ‘oosa’ (idol), is a notorious troublemaker in the community, as scores of residents had fallen victims to his several heinous acts.
The latest incident occurred last Monday
at Ile-Baba Isale area in the community.
Kehinde’s latest victim, Folorunso Mathew Oyetayo, a farmer, who is on admission at a private hospital at Ilora town, said that
on the fateful day, he decided to charge his mobile phone at Kehinde’s residence, just a stone throw to where he lives, shortly
after leaving the community chairman’s house.
According to Oyetayo, “in the morning of the incident, a man came to my
shop where provisions were sold, met one of my children and requested
for some edible items. He brought N1,000 note but my son told him that there is no change, as he was the first person to
buy from the shop that day. The statement did not go down well with the man who vowed to deal with my son. I didn’t consider it serious but only appealed to him not to be annoyed.”
He added that about 9pm after returning from a farm where he went to resolve a land dispute, he proceeded to the residence of the chairman, community development council, Mr. Abiodun Ajayi, to
feed him back the outcome of the land dispute resolution.
“After the discussion, I was heading towards my house when I saw light in my neighbour’s house, using a generator. I hurriedly moved into my house, took my mobile handset phone and called my son to go and charge it at Kehinde’s house. On his way to charge the phone, the man who came to buy edible items from our shop, re-appeared, cornered my son, seized the phone with a threat to deal with him. The
pleading voice of my child echoed into our house which prompted me to
go out and see what was happening. When this man saw me, he picked a
big stone and hurled it at me and my son, but did not hurt us. He then
shouted “thief, thief” at us and called Kehinde that he had caught
those who burgled his wife’s shop”.
He said that Kehinde immediately came out of his house with a sword and without hearing a word from him started beating his son with a sword.
According to him, “at this juncture, I screamed and called Kehinde
to order that me and my son were not criminals as alleged. As if I put
petrol into fire, my neighbor removed the sword from its armour and
attempted to hit my son. I quickly raised up my hand to prevent the
attack. The shard sword hit my hand and instantly chopped off the arm.
I fell on the ground, reeling in pains and in my pool of blood. That was all I could remember.”
Oyetayo disclosed that since his admission in the hospital, he has been selling his property for medical care and upkeeps. He urged well-meaning individuals to come to his aid and ensure that the
culprits are made to face full wrath of the law.
Chairman of the Community Development
Council, Abiodun Ajayi, described the incident as “sad”.
Abiodun said “some of the community people came to my house at
midnight to inform me about the incident. I quickly got up from bed, hurriedly dressed up and we all entered my vehicle to the venue of the incident. I was shivering on seeing how Oyetayo was badly butchered.
On my way to the police station located at Jobele, I met some officers and men of the force who were on their way to the venue of the incident in a patrol van. I turned to join them. After collecting the sword from
Kehinde, he and the man who raised the false alarm were arrested, while Oyetayo was brought into the police vehicle and taken to the hospital.
“After everybody had left, I returned to the
residence of Kehinde, met his wife and inquired to know what actually
happened. The wife told me before God and man that Foluso is not a
thief, as he used to charge his phone at their residence.”
Abiodun further hinted that since the incident, the community has been
making frantic efforts not only to provide succour to the victim, but ensure that all those involved in the dastardly act are brought to justice.
He described Oyetayo as ”cool-headed, hard-working, respectful, peace-loving”, and one devoutly committed to unity and development of the town.
To ensure justice, the case has been transferred from the Jobele Division to the Oyo Area Command of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), located at Durbar
in Oyo town.
A senior police officer said: “Thorough investigation into the matter has begun and those involved will be charged to court as soon as investigations are concluded.”
