A quiet nightfall was shattered by the sound of sporadic gunshots at Showole, a seedy community in Ota, the headquarters of Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area, Ogun State penultimate Saturday. By the time the dust raised by the incident settled, a chieftain of Oodua People’s Congress (OPC), Akeem a.k.a. Omo Bello had been killed.

Witnesses said a battle over the protection rights on some hectares of land triggered a fight between some persons. One of the two sides contesting ownership allegedly hired Omo Bello, an OPC chieftain in the Agege area of Lagos, to secure the land from being snatched.

The other party also contracted another OPC commander identified as Ahmed Saka a.k.a. Area to chase away Akeem and his boys from the land. It was during a confrontation between the two OPC camps that an exchange of gunfire occurred, resulting in the alleged killing of Akeem by Area’s group.

It was alleged that immediately Area stormed the landed property with his boys, they opened fire on Akeem and his men. The bullets however could not penetrate Akeem’s body hence he was hacked to death while his boys fled from the scene.

A resident, Ayo Gbeleyi, said: “Initially, when Area led his men to the scene of the controversial landed property in Showole, they were met with stiff resistance from Akeem and his boys.

“Akeem was shot several times but bullets could not penetrate his body, so his assailants attacked him with machetes. He suffered machete cuts on his neck, legs and stomach. He fell in a pool of his blood and died on the spot.

“His attackers fled the scene and have since gone into hiding for fear of being arrested.”

The village, sources said, has since been deserted by the traditional ruler and other community leaders following the brutal killing of the OPC chieftain.

“The baale (traditional ruler) of the village, Chief Sunday Joseph, and other community leaders have left the community for fear of being caught in reprisals. The baale relocated to Abeokuta from where he is communicating with residents of the village and indigenes,” said a villager identified simply as Toriola.

A source who asked not to be named told our correspondent that the late Akeem and his alleged assailant, Area, were both chieftains of OPC in the Agege area of Lagos State before the contract for protection of the property at Showole village set off the deadly confrontation between them.

“Two factions of one family have been contesting ownership of the hectares of land in Showole village. They have unleashed violence on each other in the last few years, using different land speculators and hoodlums.

“The latest bloody confrontation was just one of the many attacks that have taken place on the said land in recent times.

“Akeem a.k.a. Omo Bello and Ahmed Saka a.k.a. Area are both OPC leaders based in Lagos. While Akeem is the Commandant General of OPC in Agege Local Government Area of Lagos State, Area is a chieftain of OPC in Alagbado on the outskirts of Lagos. He is also a member of a transport union. I think they know each other very well before the fatal confrontation.

“Alhaji Akeem was eating rice with one of his men named Taofik Tablet when Area stormed the scene with his men on no fewer than 20 motorcycles. Taofik fled for his life on sighting the hoodlums. They shot at Akeem, and when they realized that the shots could not kill him, they hacked him to death and ran away.”

It was learnt that Area (Saka) has since gone into hiding after police took over the matter.

Speaking with our correspondent on the telephone, Chief Sunday Joseph described the killing of Akeem as unfortunate. He explained that the remains of the deceased OPC leader would be buried at the completion of autopsy on his body.

“The killing of Akeem omo Bello, an OPC leader, is unfortunate. It is unfortunate because the mastermind is also an OPC chieftain. The land in question actually belongs to my family and those who are dragging the ownership of the property with us are not members of our family.

“We have a judgment in our favour from both the Customary Court in Ado-Odo and the Customary Court of Appeal in Abeokuta. Our opponent did not appeal the two judgments at any superior court.

“A fortnight before the killing of Akeem omo Bello, police operatives from the SWAT Squad in Abeokuta arrested some hoodlums on the land following our petition to the Commissioner of Police in charge of Ogun Command. Those arrested have been arraigned at the Magistrate’s Court, Ifo.

“Apart from Akeem omo Bello, eight others sustained severe injuries at the scene while the assailants have gone into hiding. The case was handled by the Ibogun Police Division and has since been transferred to the Homicide Section of the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) of Ogun Police Command for further investigation.”

He added: “We are waiting for the autopsy report to come out so that we can bury the remains of Akeem omo Bello in line with the advisory from the OPC leadership. It is sad that the culprit is an OPC man, yet, he led the attack against a fellow OPC man.”

The spokesperson of Ogun State Police Command, Omolola Odutola, a Superintendent of Police (SP), was contacted but she referred our correspondent to the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of the Onipanu Division, Mr. Earnest Obideyi, a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP).

Contacted, the DPO (Obideyi) said there was no record of the incident at his division.

“No case of murder was reported at Onipanu Division. The only case reported on that day was that of a corpse some persons from Ibogun village wanted to take to the mortuary at Ifo and they were arrested.

Meanwhile, sources said some of the boys loyal to Area, who allegedly killed Akeem, have been arrested and are facing prosecution at the Magistrate’s Court, Ota, while Area is still on the run.” (The Nation)