The true face of horror in Ibadan! Bow, knife expose herdsmen as suspects

The true face of horror in Ibadan! Bow,
knife expose herdsmen as suspects

By Ola Ajayi, Ibadan
Everybody who got to the ‘evil forest’ in Ibadan, Oyo
State capital where hundreds of people have been
killed by kidnappers was stunned to
speechlessness seeing the number of decomposed
bodies of victims.
Call the place the Soka house of horror, a den of
killers, the place of skull, the evil shrine, the valley
of dry bones, killers’ hideouts, you will not be
wrong. No adjective or description is too much to
express the horror there. In the isolated bush, life is
hellish, brutish, loutish and nasty. It is distasteful,
barbaric and fetish. It is better read and heard than
seen.
If you go there once, you could find it difficult to
have your meal. Flies of different sizes and colours
were feasting on the bodies. The bodies were in
different positions. The odour was unbearable. The
land brings to mind David’s statement when he
heard about the death of his bosom friend,
Jonathan, “Tell it not in Gath or publish it in the
streets of Ashkelon; lest the daughters of the
Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the
uncircumcised triumph”.
Chief Isiaka Bello Olupoju, a community leader in
the area who was not sure of the exact number of
people killed, put the figure at about 120 persons.
Apart from the atrocities committed in the den, the
incident raises a serious security concern.
Alleged connivance
It is indefensible for residents in the area to claim
ignorance of the activities of the kidnappers. The
stench oozing from the decomposed bodies was a
strong indication that nobody in the area could claim
ignorance.
A woman, who spoke in the presence of Governor
Abiola Ajimobi, said the matter had been reported at
Sanyo Police Station several times. She said some
policemen either said the place had been set aside
to take care of the destitute who had become a
nuisance in the city or it didn’t fall under their
jurisdiction.
Another source said they always saw some people
moving up and down particularly herdsmen. He said
the police should investigate the herdsmen. To fuel
suspicion that the herdsmen might know something
about the  killings there, a knife and a bow
commonly used by cattle rearers were found close
to one of the decomposed bodies. The knife was
still looking fresh as at Tuesday indicating it was
just dropped there.
Besides, a company populated by foreigners where
the vehicles or motorcycles conveying the victims
always pass should know something about the
isolated bush. The building of the company is tall
and so should afford the persons staying inside to
have a glimpse of what is going on in the bush.
Arbitrary arrests and shooting
Sunday Vanguard saw the body of a woman
identified simply as Kafayat, pregnant and said to be
a mother of three, who was allegedly killed by an
overzealous security man during the protest that
followed the uncovering of the bush. She was said
to have left her wares at Agodi Gate where she
operated a shop to have a glimpse of the horror
when she was felled by stray bullet.
Apart from seven suspects earlier arrested as
confirmed by the Oyo State Police Public Relations
Officer, SP Olabisi Ilobanafor, three other suspects
were rounded up in the area. Sunday Vanguard
gathered from a security man that a mob made up
of youths, angered that the police failed to uncover
the bush of horror, was coming to set the Sanyo
Police Station ablaze.
This prompted policemen to guard the station.
Anybody coming from the Lagos end of the
expressway towards Iwo Road without an Identity
card was picked up as a suspect. An Okada man,
who proved difficult for two policemen trying to pin
him down, was beaten blue and black as about
eight policemen descended on him with gun butts
and boots.
He was thereafter arrested. Before Ajimobi got to
the scene, it was gathered that five more bodies
had been taken away and also a boy who was
trying to dig the hall to locate some of his missing
relatives was reportedly shot by security men
guarding the place. When arraigned in court one
day after, the court could not find any cogent
reason why the suspects should be remanded in
custody. They were released on bail in the sum of
N100, 000 each.
How the den was discovered
After several failed attempts to find their missing
ones, commercial motorcyclists, popularly called
Okada riders, mobilized in hundreds and stormed
the kidnappers’ den. On getting there, they raised
the alarm seeing numerous bodies of victims.
Ajimobi revokes right to land
When Governor Ajimobi got to the scene, the crowd
was unruly. He had to talk tough to get the people to
listen to him. He said, “As from today, the state
government has revoked the land from its owners.
We would dig all the land and expose any victims
hidden in the ground. God would expose them. We,
into whose hands you have entrusted the
governance of this state through your votes, God
will use us to punish the culprits”.
The State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Mohammed
Indabawa, assured the crowd that he would do
everything to get all the suspects.
Survivors in hospital
Doctors at Adeoyo State Hospital, Ibadan, where
victims who survived the ‘evil forest’ horror were
admitted for treatment, did not allow journalists’
access to the survivors. After much pressure, the
hospital officials and security men there, however,
allowed some newsmen to have a brief chat with
the survivors but they did not allow anybody to take
pictures.
The survivors, who identified themselves as Nafiu
Shittu, Michael Ola, Mrs. Titi Adeniyi, nee Dokpesi
and Wale Atoyebi, gave indications that the
kidnappers, who operated in the bush, capitalized
on the urban renewal initiative of the Oyo
government to arrest some hawkers under the
pretext that they violated the state environmental
law even though they did not have the authority of
government to do it. Shittu recalled how he was
kidnapped. He said he was selling concoction at
Agodi Gate when he was accosted by some men
who forced him into a waiting car.
Titi Adeniyi-nee Dokpesi said she was forced into a
vehicle in front of her house and later found herself
in the den.
She said, “I am from the compound of the late Baba
Awolowo located in Oke Bola area of Ibadan. Some
people kidnapped me while I was sitting in front of
our house. Nobody was around then. My people
were in Lagos. They said I was wanted somewhere
and that they came to arrest me. They then took me
away in their vehicle. Later, I found myself in that
forest”. The survivor said she could not tell if people
were being killed in the forest by the kidnappers.  ”I
don’t know whether people were being killed or
women giving birth. Where they kept us was where I
used to be. Once I covered my head with my dress,
I would sleep off”.
As if that was not enough, three human tongues
were allegedly found on three men at Oni and Sons
Hospital area of Ibadan in a cellophane bag. After
being mobbed, the men were handed over to the
police.