Gunmen Brutally Attack, Abduct Ondo Family Members From Farm

Some members of a family, Fawehinmi, in Ondo town have been attacked by gun-wielding hoodlums on their farms in Ondo State, with one family member abducted and another left severely injured. The family’s lawyer, Barrister Akinbinu Olufemi, in an account detailing the development on Saturday, said that the incident occurred on Friday after suspected hoodlums invaded the family’s farms at Aboba and Ogbomoso camps in Ondo. According to the lawyer, the latest incident followed a dispute involving petitions written to security authorities over the family property as well as an ongoing legal process concerning the matter. Akinbinu said that the situation took a violent turn when the gunmen invaded the farms, attacking residents and family members. “That was when all hell broke loose,” the lawyer said, alleging that “thugs hired by one Taju Oguntoye, not interested in waiting for a time-wasting court decision, invaded our farms at Aboba.” He said that the attackers subjected the head villager and his wife to severe violence. “[They] stripped the head villager’s wife totally naked and only able to cover herself with her hands, while the husband was beaten to stupor,” he recounted. “Not done, they proceeded to the adjoining Ogbomoso camp, which was where they wreaked havoc,” he said. According to him, the attackers were armed with machetes, cutlasses, axes and guns. “The 43-strong machete, cutlass, axe and gun-drawn street urchins descended on the farm, mistaking them for bandits,” he stated. “In that pandemonium, Femi Fawehinmi was captured and beaten to stupor,” he said. He also alleged that another member of the family, identified as Adeoye Fawehinmi, was subjected to further violence. “So also was Adeoye Fawehinmi, who was not so lucky and almost got killed,” the lawyer alleged. He claimed that the attackers subsequently took Adeoye away on one of the motorcycles belonging to the farmers. “Thinking that the bush runners may be recording them, they hounded Adeoye on one of the six bikes of the poor farmers carted away, perhaps to go finish the job at their torture chambers,” he stated. The lawyer said Adeoye’s whereabouts remained unknown. “Adeoye remains in their custody, dead or alive,” he said, while appealing for prayers and assistance for the family. “We enjoin all well-wishers to help pray for the safe return of the abducted, currently languishing in their dungeon,” he added. The lawyer said the latest development had taken the dispute involving the Fawehinmi family and the Ondo State authorities “to a completely different dimension.” According to him, the individuals behind a petition submitted to the anti-land grabbing unit in Akure had also submitted another petition to the Inspector-General of Police in Abuja without the knowledge of the Fawehinmi family. He said that following the petition to the IGP, the monitoring unit of the police arrived in Ondo on Thursday and conducted its activities without harassing members of the family. “The monitoring unit of the IGP arrived in Ondo town and actually conducted its activities in good stead without harassing anyone,” he said. He explained that the police team merely invited members of the Fawehinmi family to appear before it at a later date. However, he said the initial date was inconvenient because of a court proceeding involving the family. According to him, the head of the monitoring unit, CSP Abubakar Bafeto, was informed. He described the police officer as “civil enough to give us a fresh date for upper Wednesday without any form of harassment and intimidation.” The lawyer also accused one of the petitioners, Mr Olaleye Awonusi, of allegedly parading himself as the traditional ruler of Agbondin despite what he described as a directive from the Ondo State Government. He alleged that Awonusi had continued to use the title “HRH, King of Agbondin” despite a strongly worded letter from the governor directing him to refrain from doing so. “This is impersonation and criminal, but the authority has refused to bring him to justice despite the heinous crime,” the lawyer alleged. He also made allegations concerning an unnamed Alhaji, whom he said was popularly known as “Baba Josy”, accusing him of claiming to have close ties with senior police officers. The lawyer alleged that the man had boasted about his influence and instructed one Taju to invade the villages rather than wait for the outcome of the court proceedings. He described the development as part of what he considered an attempt to use force to settle a dispute that was already before the courts. The lawyer further alleged that a number of the petitioners had gathered at B Luxury Hotel along the Okeigbo Road, where the unnamed Alhaji was purportedly attempting to contact people in Abuja over the incident. He questioned the claims of influence attributed to the man, saying: “Save for some few illiterates he sleezes for their hard-earned money for his purported officers ‘at the top’, no one believes in his ‘sweet friendship’ with the top cops he likes to brandish their names.” “We know so as a matter of fact because we checked him out,” he added. It was reported that the family in Ondo town challenged the Ondo State Anti-Land Grabbing Task Force over its purported arrest warrant against its son, Pastor Olanrewaju Fawehinmi, and the alleged harassment of the family's 104-year-old matriarch, Mama Mogbonjubola Fawehinmi. The family had insisted that the disputed property is already covered by a court injunction. The family lawyer, Barrister Akinbinu Olufemi, had accused the task force of attempting to use government machinery to intimidate its members over a property dispute already before the Ondo State High Court and the Court of Appeal. Reacting to the task force's claim that Olanrewaju had ignored several invitations, the lawyer maintained that his client never received any formal invitation before armed operatives allegedly invaded the family's ancestral property and pasted a stop-work order on it. The lawyer also disclosed that the family had secured a fresh injunction restraining parties from taking further action concerning the disputed property pending the determination of an appeal. The family is seeking judicial protection of its constitutional rights to dignity, property and fair hearing under Sections 34, 43 and 36 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.