Hoodlums ambush, burn Baale Olowo Gbagura of Ogun state

It was gathered that the deceased had a pending land-related case.

 It was further learnt that he was recently arrested and arraigned for his alleged involvement in a tussle with some individuals claiming ownership of land.

The village head, who was expected to appear in court on March 15, had reportedly commenced the amicable resolution of the matter before his death on Monday.

One of his wives, Silifat, while confirming the incident, said she was returning from the mosque around 6am when she saw fire billowing from their compound.

“When I saw the fire, I shouted, I didn’t know what was happening. I rushed down, only to discover that my husband was on fire, already dead. We later found out that a window at the back of the house was broken. We didn’t know who killed him,” Silifat said.

His second wife, Iyabode, said she slept in the same room with her husband, saying her husband left the room at dawn to urinate and pray as usual.

“He used to pray every morning, so he went out around 6am to urinate and prepare for prayer. After about 15 minutes, I heard my senior wife shouting, ‘fire, fire’. I rushed out to discover that it was Baale that was on fire. He didn’t go out with fire or matches. We don’t know who did this,” Iyabode explained.

The Seriki of Olowe, Chief Kazeem Dauda, while condemning the incident, explained that there was an issue between the Baale and some individuals.

When contacted,  Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, did not pick up our call, as at the time of filling this report