A staff member of Adekunle Ajasin University Akungba, Prince Adeyemo Adeniyi Samson, was among the victims of the April 25, 2023 crisis in Ikare, Ondo State, which claimed many lives and property.
Adeyemo, a resident of Ikare in the Akoko North-East Local Government Area of Ondo State, is also a royal prince from the community.
Narrating his ordeal during the attack, the 47-year-old man, married with three children, disclosed that he narrowly escaped being killed in Ikare on the 24th of April 2023 when the raging hoodlums struck.
According to him, the April attack is the second one he had experienced this year. “I was trapped in the middle of the war in January during the New Year carnival in Ikare, which recorded so many casualties which led the Ondo State government to impose a curfew and threatened to banish the Olukare and the Owa-Ale in Ikare-Akoko.”
Recall that one person was killed on April 25, while several others sustained various degrees of injuries and property damage by the rampaging thugs who were allegedly “defending their paymasters.”
Before the last one, which forced the Ondo State government to impose a curfew, several people had been killed and property damaged due to the lingering crisis rocking the community over chieftaincy disputes.
Narrating his ordeal in Ikare, Adeyemo explained that “as I speak, I and my family have moved to Ibadan because of the fear of being killed by the notorious hoodlums who have been terrorising the community due to Chieftaincy issues.
“I became one of their targets because of my closeness to the palace. So, my family has been living in fear of being attacked by the opposing camp, who have pencilled my name down for elimination.
“I have reported the threat on my life to the police and other security agencies, but I was advised to stay away from the community to avert further attack on me, my family, and others, some of whom have also left the community.”
