The Baale of Olowe Gbagura in Abeokuta North Local Government Area of Ogun State, Chief Akin Muheedeen, has been reportedly burnt to death by yet-to-be-identified persons.
The incident occurred about one month after the Olu of Agodo, Oba Ayinde Odetola, was burnt to death in the Ewekoro Local Government Area of the state.
We learnt that the community head was believed to have gone out to observe the Islamic morning prayer (Subhi) when the fire was discovered within his compound.
Sources from the family said the man was killed by some unknown persons, who they said broke a window to gain access to where he was assassinated.
They suspected that the assailants set the man on fire after killing him.
It was gathered that the deceased had a pending land-related case.
It was also learnt that he was recently arrested and arraigned for his alleged involvement in a tussle with some individuals claiming ownership of land.
The village head, who was expected to appear in court on March 15, had reportedly commenced the amicable resolution of the matter before his death on Monday.
One of his wives, Silifat, while confirming the incident, said she was returning from the mosque around 6 am when she saw fire billowing from their compound.
“When I saw the fire, I shouted, I didn’t know what was happening. I rushed down, only to discover that my husband was on fire, already dead. We later found out that a window at the back of the house was broken. We didn’t know who killed him,” Silifat said.
His second wife, Iyabode, said she slept in the same room with her husband, saying her husband left the room at dawn to urinate and pray as usual.
“He used to pray every morning, so he went out around 6 am to urinate and prepare for prayer. After about 15 minutes, I heard my senior wife shouting, ‘fire, fire’. I rushed out to discover that it was Baale that was on fire. He didn’t go out with fire or matches. We don’t know who did this,” Iyabode explained.
The Seriki of Olowe, Chief Kazeem Dauda, while condemning the incident, explained that there was an issue between the Baale and some individuals.
The Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, said he had not been briefed about the incident.
Hours after, Oyeyemi said he could not contact the Divisional Police Officer of Imala for details about the incident.
