WOLE BALOGUN, Ado Ekiti
A twin tragedy shook Ekiti on Wednesday as a yet-to-be identified herder allegedly beheaded another unidentified lady, when also, a yet-to- be identified commercial motorcycle operator was killed in Ado Ekiti after he allegedly disobeyed the traffic light.
While confusion erupted in Ilasa-Ekiti in Ekiti East Local Government Area of the state with the beheading of the young lady near a stream, eyewitnesses told reporters that the okada rider was hit by a vehicle after he defied the traffic light beside the flyover in Okesa area or Ado Ekiti.
The accident occurred at about 10.38am and the body of the deceased has been deposited at the morgue of Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital (EKSUTH), Ado Ekiti.
When newsmen visited the spot, it was observed that the skull of the deceased was shattered and blood drenched the body of the space wagon that killed him.
A police officer who craved anonymity, but was stationed at the traffic light located at Okesa to control vehicular movement, said the commercial bike operator was overrun by the green-coloured space wagon marked Lagos FF 188 APP, after riding against traffic light.
The accident led to a multiple head-on collision that caused traffic snarl along Okesa-Fajuyi Road as the car swerved and hit a truck.
Narrating how it happened, the officer, said the okada rider was coming from Okesa-Oluyemi Kayode stadium road on a top speed despite being stopped by the traffic light.
“I was controlling the traffic with my colleagues; those coming from stadium road had been passed by the green light but the okada man was coming on high speed; but before he got to the traffic light, those coming from Fajuyi area down to Okesa had been passed by the light.
“Instead of him to obey the red light that had stopped those coming from his side, he decided to circumvent it and rode onto the road.
“And the man that was driving the car had already moved and unexpectedly, the motorcyclist rode onto the road and was hit by the car, and he was overrun.
“We rushed there to save him but he died instantly and the body was taken to the mortuary.”
An eyewitness revealed to journalists that the driver immediately fled the scene upon realising that the motorcyclist had died.
The beheading of the young lady, our correspondent gathered, occurred on Tuesday and had thrown the whole Ilasa community into confusion.
The victim who is also of the same tribe with the suspected assailant, was attacked beside a stream where she had gone to fetch water with her younger sister.
The assailant was said to have ambushed the lady and beheaded her when she bent down to fetch water from the stream. Thereafter, the assailant took to his heal but was later arrested through information provided by the younger sister of the deceased who witnessed the debacle.
Reports by some notable personalities in the community including the traditional rulers of the community, the Alasa of Ilasa, Oba Ajayi Omolagba, revealed that the young lady was allegedly handed over to the suspected assailant as a future wife while she was still a teenager in line with their custom and tradition.
However, trouble started last month when the suspect requested the lady to spend the Eld-el-Fitr with him.
The failure of the family of the lady to release her before, during and after the celebration angered the suspect who assumed the contract had been breached by the family hence the dastardly act.
Another report has it that the lady, having grown up observed that the supposed husband was a drunk and drug addict; she therefore was no longer interested in the marriage arrangements.
In a chat, some relatives of the deceased who did not want their named mentioned expressed sadness over the development.
They admitted that the suspected murderer made a request to spend the Eld-el-Fitr with the lady, adding that she was supposed to go to him the next day before he killed her.
Speaking with newsmen, the Alasa of Ilasa Oba Ajayi Omolagba, condemned the incident and said the community had been in shock since the incident occurred.
He said he had summoned the families of both parties involved and their landlords to a meeting for a resolution to forestall future crisis.
Oba Omolagba noted that the community would also take necessary steps to appease the gods as such incident was strange in the land.
When contacted, the Ekiti State Police Public Relations Officer, Caleb Ikechukwu, confirmed the incident and said investigation had been launched to unravel the causes of such criminal act assuring that more details would be made available to newsmen.