Gunmen suspected to be herdsmen on Monday evening killed two paramount rulers in Ekiti State.
The traditional rulers were the Elesun of Esun, Oba Babatunde Ogunsakin and Olumojo of Imojo, Oba Samuel Olatunji.
The Alara of Ara-Ekiti, Oba Adebayo Fatoba managed to escape from the incident, he was the one driving when the attackers struck.
The monarchs were reportedly ambushed and killed by the gunmen along Ipao-Irele-Oke Ako while returning from Ogbe, a neighbouring town in Yagba West local government area of Kogi State
The chairman of the Ajoni local council development area, Micheal Ogungbemi confirmed the incident to newsmen.
Ogungbemi who condemned the attack, said the gunmen attempted to abduct the three traditional rulers.
He said local security outfits including the Amotekun corps have been mobilized to comb the forest in a bid to arrest the perpetrators.
According to him, “I just returned from the scene of the unfortunate incident along Oke-Ako road and I can confirm that two traditional rulers; the Elesun of Esun-Ekiti and Onimojo of Imojo-Ekiti were killed by the gunmen who ambushed them.
“The Alara of Ara-Ekiti managed to escape from the incident, he was the one driving when the incident happened.
“We have evacuated the remains of the monarchs and deposited them in the morgue at the Ikole General Hospital.
“Our local security outfit and Amotekun have been drafted to the scene and the bush to arrest the bandits who committed this dastardly act.”
Ogungbemi, who appealed to the Federal Government to approve usage of arms by the local security outfits in the State, said the attacks have been recurring in the area in the last few years.
“I am extremely sad with the situation and I want to call on the government to allow our local security network to carry arms because the traditional ruler who escaped told us the gunmen were carrying AK-47 and other dangerous weapons. These people are killing us and it is becoming unbearable.”
