Former governor of Oyo State, Rashidi Ladoja, says the yet-to-be-identified gunmen that stormed the palace of the Olubadan of Ibadan land, Saliu Adetunji, on Monday came to assassinate him.
Mr. Ladoja, the Osi Olubadan of Ibadan land, said he was only lucky to have escaped the attack.
In a statement signed by his media aide, Lanre Latinwo, Mr. Ladoja said the Oyo State government must beam its searchlight in the direction of the hoodlums that launched the attack targeted at him at the palace.
It was earlier reported that some gunmen attacked the palace of the Olubadan at Popo-yemoja on Monday, shooting sporadically into the air while daring visitors to come out and confront them.
A former Secretary to the Oyo State Government, Sharafadeen Ali, and some journalist caught up in the mayhem, however, escaped by the whiskers.
In its reaction, the Oyo State government said it had begun to look into the incident, adding that it was condemnable.
But on Wednesday, Abiola Ajimobi, the state governor, accused “failed politicians”, particularly Mr. Ladoja, of being behind the attack.
Similarly, the Oyo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, had said in a statement by its Public Relations Officer, Olawale Sadare, that Mr. Ladoja should be blamed for the mayhem.
But Mr. Ladoja’s aide, in his statement Wednesday, said his principal knew nothing about the incident as he was the target, adding that the Ibadan monarch had even been threatened in a letter that if he continued with the installation, there would be consequences.
“How can a responsible person organise that AK- 47 and pump action guns be shot at his direction. Are AK- 47 and pump action guns toys that can be played with? We urge security agencies to beam their searchlight on the APC and their agents in the state so as to unravel the perpetrators of the act,” he said.
“They sent their killer squad to kill Ladoja but unfortunately for them, the bullet hit another vehicle that belongs to Sarafadeen Alli, a senior chief of the Olubadan, with the hope that the vehicle belonged to Ladoja.
“The damage done to the vehicle and the incident has been reported to security agencies. It is noteworthy that some bystanders were able to identify the vehicle and some of the hoodlums, which include one aide that usually accompanies a High Chief, who is now an Oba and who is also a signatory to the purported letter written by the so- called Oba- in -Council against the Olubadan.”
Commenting further, the statement argued that: “It should be recalled that preparatory to the installation at the palace, a set of people, who called themselves Ibadan Oba – in – Council, wrote a letter of protest to the Olubadan, telling him not to carry out his lawful duties.
“Based on the letter, the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters wrote another letter threatening the Olubadan of great consequences should he go ahead with his lawful programme. Not satisfied with a fake delivery record on the letter, they went with Operation Burst soldiers and riot policemen fully armed to paste the letters on the wall of the Olubadan palace,” he said.
Mr. Ladoja, an Olubadan High Chief, was one of those who stood in opposition to the review of the Olubadan chieftaincy affairs by Mr. Ajimobi.
The review, which was opposed by the Olubadan, had been rocked with crises in recent weeks.
The shooting at the palace on Monday is believed to be a fall out of the disagreements generated by the chieftaincy review.
Source: ( Premium Times )
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