8th March, 2011
Suspected ritualists have killed an 84-year old hunchback, Olu Esho at his 9, Imalefalaafia residence, Oke Ado, Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State, Southwest Nigeria.
P.M.NEWS gathered that the deceased, who occupied the house for many years was living alone without a wife or children around him. He was believed to have inherited the one storey building from his late uncle.
Unknown to the Makun, Sagamu, Ogun State-born hunchback, he was trailed by ritualists who broke into his residence on Friday night. The assailants killed Pa Olu Esho and removed the hunch at his chest and back, his genitals and other organs in his body.
When P.M.NEWS visited the area this morning, all the tenants at the attached spare parts shop on the ground floor had disappeared. The building was also under lock.
It was learnt that all the residents around the house have fled to escape arrest by plain cloth policemen who were around the area to investigate the gruesome murder.
A few residents of the adjacent street who spoke with our correspondent described the late Pa Olu Esho as an easy going, jovial and humble person.
One of them simply called Kehinde, said the deceased was always at Lodge Street to relax adding: “He was a nice old man, very friendly with young and old people. He was a friend to my father who originally owned and run this pools house.â€
He confirmed that the murdered septuagenarian was alone in the house.
Kehinde disclosed that the residents learnt Pa Olu Esho was once attacked in Sagamu but he managed to escape and had since relocated to Ibadan for many years before he was murdered on Friday.
An Ibadan-based legal practitioner, Mr. Ranti Ajilete, who said that he had known the deceased for over twenty years described him as a quiet and simple man who does foment trouble.
Ajilete described the murder of such an innocent man as unfortunate, stressing that the killing of the old man was an indication that the nation lacks security.
The Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO of the Oyo State Police Command, SP Olatunji Ajimuda said the police have set in motion machinery to unmask Pa Esho’s killers.
He confirmed that some arrests had been made and the suspects so far arrested were being detained at the State Criminal Investigation Department SCID, Iyaganku, Ibadan.
Meanwhile, the corpse of the victim has been deposited at the Oyo State General Hospital mortuary, Adeoyo, Ibadan, for autopsy.
—Gbenro Adesina & Adesina Akinbola/Ibadan