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Traditional ruler of Ago-Iwoye area of Ogun State, Oba Rasaq Adenugba, yesterday denied he shot at the students of Olabisi Onabanjo University and that he did not kill any student.
Traditional ruler of Ago-Iwoye area of Ogun State, Oba Rasaq Adenugba, yesterday denied he shot at the students of Olabisi Onabanjo University and that he did not kill any student.
Speaking at a press conference in his palace in Ago-Iwoye, Adenugba said there was no iota of truth in what the students were saying.
According to him, "I have no cell in my palace. We have been living together peacefully for a long time here in Ago-Iwoye until this unfortunate incident happened."
The Oba said as a traditional ruler, who don't see a corpse, how can I kill anybody.
He said "what happened was very unfortunate," adding that "when I was coronated as Oba last year, the report I got was that the town was often enmeshed in violence, which led to the constitution of a local vigilante outfit by the community."
He said since the vigilante commenced work, there has not been any cause to pre-empt that such an ugly incidence was going to happen, at least for now.
"When I came to Ago-Iwoye last year, one of the things I was confronted with was the security state of the town, which led to the inauguration of the Vigilante Group, which the institution's leadership endorsed as a way of checking the upsurge of cultism and other socially-related vices within the community," he said.
Recalling how the mayhem started, Adenugba said the university's Vice Chancellor was even with him that Friday morning, when messages got to him that staudents were outside wanting to see.
His denial came just as the students of the institution demanded for his immediate dethronement for his role in the crisis which they said led to the death of some of their colleagues.Also, Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuade, yesterday appealed to Adenugba and his subjects to exercise patient with the students.
According to Ooni, who was represented by who was represented by Arode of Ife, Chief Femi Falogba, the students could always display their youthful exuberance.
However, in a statement by the university's Students Union Government (SUG), the students demanded that the school be relocated to a more hospitable community.
'In other to prevent further eruption of such crisis in future, we demanded that the Ebumawe of Ago-Iwoye, Oba AbdulRasaq Adenugba displayed his incapability to peacefully govern a sensitive community of students and as such, he should be immediately dethroned.
'That the OPC/Vigilante group should be outlawed and banished from Ago-Iwoye.
'That the Olabisi Onabanjo University should be relocated to a more hospitable community.
'That the kidnapped students should be immediately released.
'That there shall never be a peaceful cohabitation in Ago-Iwoye until these demands are met," they said.
Meanwhile, Odua Peoples Congress (OPC), while reacting to the mayhem, said it was at a loss as to why reports allegedly linked it as fueling the mayhem, when ordinarily, it has been synonymous in protecting lives and property in the country.
In a statement by OPC Media Relations Officer, Abiodun Adesina, "OPC while commisserating with the aggrieved students and the town's monarch categorically denies any involvement in any cation that might have resulted in the hostility."
Adesina said "we also absolve ourselves of culpability in the loss of live of any student in the university."
The group said investigation revealed that "there was an introduction of vigilante service by the people of the town when incidences of bulglary, rape, stealing, armed robbery, kidnapping, cultism and other such criminalities became unbearable in the town once noted for its peace and tranquility."
"When his royal highness, the incumbent Ebumawe got installed last year, there were clear manifestations of the need to revamp the security system, as the town still had traces of a place under siege. The security system then proved inadequate," he said.