Unknown gunmen on Friday evening shot at a traditional ruler, the Elewu of Ewu Ekiti, Oba Adetutu Ajayi, while in his car along Ayetoro-Ewu Road in Ilejemeje Local Government Area.
This came barely 24 hours after gunmen invaded a petrol station at Isan Ekiti in the same local government area and abducted the manager of the station, Itakorodo Adebayo, after sporadic gunshots.
Sources at Ewu Ekiti said on Saturday that the bandits rained gunshots on the traditional ruler’s official car in which he was travelling on the Ayetoro-Ewu Road in the neighbouring Ido/Osi Council Area.
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The sources said that although the monarch escaped death, he sustained gunshot injuries following which he was hospitalised in a tertiary medical facility in Ekiti State.
One of the sources said, “The monarch was travelling in his car to Ayetoro when the bandits waylaid him and in an attempt to escape, they pursued him and rained bullets on his car.
“The bullets hit him on the legs, arms and stomach. The traditional ruler is now receiving treatment in a tertiary hospital in Ekiti.”
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The Police Public Relations Officer for Ekiti State Command, Sunday Abutu, who regretted the attack, said the perpetrators would be caught and brought to book while the police would stop at nothing in bring criminality to zero in the state.
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Abutu stated, “Despite the rigorous joint patrol, raiding of blackspots and combing of bushes/forests comprising the Amotekun Corps, vigilante groups, local hunters, chiefs, drivers union, motorcycle riders, farmers and other stakeholders carried out simultaneously on Friday across the 16 local governments areas of the state, some unknown gunmen mischievously defiled the operation, came out and attacked the Elewu of Ewu Ekiti, Oba Ajayi while he was on transit between Ewu Ekiti and Ayetoro Ekiti at about 1900 hours.
“The operation was aimed at dislodging and apprehending the miscreants in their hideouts as directed by the Ekiti State Commissioner of Police, Tunde Mobayo.
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“The Commissioner of Police, while assuring the general public that the perpetrators will be brought to book, has pledged that the Police Command shall continue to work with relevant security outfits, ministries, stakeholders and organizations to ensure that criminality is brought to zero across the state.
“The spirit of officers of the Command and other supporting agencies and groups still remain high as the operation still continues indefinitely to stamp out the bandits,” Abutu said.
