Fresh details have emerged regarding the murder of the Olukoro of Koro in Kwara State, Oba Olusegun Aremu-Cole, revealing that the assailants planned the killing in a pub, popularly called a beer parlour, in the town.
The monarch, a retired senior military officer, was shot dead in his palace on Thursday night, and his wife, along with two other residents, were abducted.
According to sources, the killers spent several hours in a beer parlour before luring a salesgirl to lead them to the palace. The unsuspecting girl took them to the monarch’s residence, where the assailants carried out the attack.
The brother of the late monarch, Mr Adelaja Aremu, disclosed that the assailants shot Oba Aremu-Cole after he refused to comply with their orders to stand up and accompany them.
He told Punch: Adelaja, who spoke in a telephone interview with Saturday PUNCH, noted that the assailants shot his brother dead for refusing to follow their orders to stand up and come with them.
He said, “I am his immediate younger brother, and I live very close to the village. Immediately, gunshots were heard in the palace; I was contacted and told the gunshots.
“They (gunmen) came into the palace and met him (the monarch) and asked him to stand up. They wanted to abduct him. He refused to get up, saying that nobody could command him like that. He refused to take orders from unknown people, so they shot in the air to scare him, but he wasn’t afraid.
“Of course, they knew that they met a stubborn person, and that was how they shot him. This was what the houseboy told us. He (houseboy) bolted out of the palace through the back door when my brother was shot, but he saw all that transpired.”
Meanwhile, the abductors have demanded a ransom of N100 million for the release of the kidnapped victims, including the monarch’s wife.
They issued a 48-hour deadline for the payment, threatening to harm the captives if the money was not provided within the stipulated time.
