So sad my brother was killed over empty milk tin –Sister
MAY 12, 2013
Slain Dele Obasanya and mother
A family feud and the murder of 45-year-old Dele Obasanya of Iwokun Nla in Ewekoro Local Government Area of Ogun State have led to the arrest of his 80-year-old uncle, Chief Osi Obasanya.
The elder Obasanya, who was a sibling of the deceased’s father, had been in a running battle with the murdered man, Saturday PUNCH learnt.
It was a family feud which had defied explanation, some residents said. In fact, when our correspondent visited the family compound, it was noticed that they lived beside each other.
The house in which the deceased was living was his late father’s while the one beside it is the one in which his uncle is living.
According to the deceased’s sister, Alaba, on Thursday April 25, 2013, Dele’s little child was playing with an empty milk tin and his uncle’s son, a 16-year-old boy named Dare, took the tin and threw it away.
Dele was said to have spanked Dare, his little cousin, as a result of this.
A shouting match was said to have ensued when Dare’s mother got wind of the matter and confronted her husband’s nephew.
“She was angry about what my brother said or did to her son. Dare’s mother held on to my brother’s clothes as they kept arguing. The argument ended that day but we all know that the relationship between the family of our uncle and my brother has never been cordial,” she said.
Our correspondent asked if she could narrate the genesis of the family feud but Alaba said she had no idea how it started or what the cause was.
However, on Sunday, three days after the disagreement between Dele and his uncle’s family, an incident occurred that shocked the residents of this small village.
Some men rode into town in two tricycles and proceeded straight to Dele’s house.
According to a source at the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps office at Obada Oko, a neighbouring town to Iwokun Nla, Dele’s uncle had placed a call to one of his sons living in Ifo, raising the alarm that his nephew had assaulted him.
“That son’s name is Sunday. Our office was the first to be notified when the incident happened because there is no police post in Iwokun Nla. Our findings revealed that the old man placed a call to his son in Ifo to arrange for some people to come and ‘deal’ with someone in the village.
“The next thing that happened was that the men came into the village in tricycles. They went to Dele’s house and dragged him out. They stripped him and beat him with clubs until he was dead. They hit him in the head, in the legs and all over his body.
“Immediately they saw that Dele had died, the men ran away, but some people had already seen what happened. Sunday also ran away. Chief Osi said he wanted to bury Dele since he was his nephew but we insisted he would do nothing of such. He would have buried the body that night if NSCDC officials were not informed,” the source said.
Saturday Punch learnt that the nearest police division at Itori was notified and the older Obasanya was arrested the following day.
When our correspondent visited Iwokun Nla on Monday, the man’s house was deserted.
A resident, who identified himself as Seun, told Saturday PUNCH that the old man’s wife and children had all run away since the incident occurred, leaving him in police custody.
But in the deceased’s house, our correspondent saw his aged mother, who was still dazed because of the incident. She could not be interviewed because she was not in any condition to answer questions.
The resident who took our correspondent to the house said the deceased’s uncle has five children.
“His children know about the beating, there is no doubt about that. We all know. But that man would rather die in prison than give his children up as the ones who arranged the beating. Nobody dared to go near the scene of the beating when it was happening because of the kind of weapons the men were holding,” he said.
Our correspondent learnt that Dele was a farmer, who had separated from his wife. His two little children, who have been left fatherless, are now living with his aged mother.
His body is still being kept at the mortuary of Ifo General Hospital. The case has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Eleweran.
Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Mr. Muyiwa Adejobi, confirmed the incident, saying Obasanya is still in custody.
He said, “Our findings revealed that he indeed arranged for the deceased to be dealt with and prevented him from being taken to the hospital.
“When the man died, the chief also made attempts to bury him that night and that was when the villagers alerted the police. We are currently in search of his children who arranged the beating as well as other culprits.”
No comments:
Post a Comment