Suspected Herders Kill Man O’War Commander In Oyo

By Yinka Adeniran, Ibadan

Suspected herdsmen on Monday killed a member of Man O’War organisation along Igangan- Iganna- Iwere-Ile road in Iwajowa local government area of Oyo State.

The deceased, Oluwole Oke, said to be in his 30s, was a Commander of the voluntary paramilitary organisation in Iserin, Igboora.

He was to have been shot by gunmen who stopped him on the highway while taking his fiancée, who visited him, to her town.

A source, who was privy to the incident, said the Man O’War uniform he was wearing made the gunmen mistake him for a security operative.

The fiancée, who was said to have been unstable after witnessing the incident, said he was immediately shot when the assailants saw the uniform on him.

The source said: “What happened was that, on Monday, the guy (Oke) took his fiancé from Igboora to the lady’s town somewhere in either Iganna or Iwere-Ile. He took her on his bike.

“By the time he was leaving, he was wearing his Man O’War uniform because he just left the meeting. He had a short on (Man O’War uniform) and a black round neck with the Man O’War logo and ‘Security’ inscription at the back.

“As he left around 6pm, they flashed him and he thought they were policemen and he stopped.

“As he stopped, maybe they thought he was an OPC or Vigilante member based on his dressings and immediately they released bullet on him and he died.

“They didn’t even steal anything from him. They didn’t take his phone or his money or even his bike; they just killed him. It was the lady who gave the account of what happened but the lady didn’t return to Igboora.”

The corpse was initially deposited at Iganna police station before it was handed over to the family on Wednesday.

Sources said Oke has since been buried.

Oyo Police spokesman, Adewale Osifeso, confirmed the incident.

He said investigations were ongoing on the matter.

– The Nation