A father of four has allegedly been killed by a mob that descended on him in the Ugbonla area of Ondo State, following a tussle for the royal stool of the community.
The deceased, Idowu Babalowo Joel, who until his death was the Assistant Secretary of the Ugbonla Community Development Association, died from machete and nail cuts on February 13, 2025 after a mob attacked him six weeks after his wife was delivered of their fourth child.
Joel was said to be discussing issues with the traditional ruler of the community, Chief Adebowale Ebiwano, when the mob armed with machete and sticks fixed with nails attacked him.
The mob allegedly hacked him and drove the nails into his head and other parts of his body leading to his death.
Sources said that trouble started on the fateful day when a group of residents allegedly went round the town with bells and chanted that the community had no recognised traditional ruler.
A source said: “At the time this was going on, Oyinbo, as Idowu Joel was fondly called in the community due to his fair complexion, was sitting in front of a betting shop owned by a youth leader in the community.
‘’When Oyinbo and the community leader and a few others heard that the angry mob who had earlier paraded the town announcing that the community no longer has a ‘Baale’ was coming to attack them, they decided to run for their lives and take refuge in the house of an elder in the community.
“While seeking refuge in that elder’s house, the mob got wind that we were there and decided to pounce on the house. We hid in one of the rooms in the house, me and other executive members of the community development association.’’
Ebiwano said: “Pleas by a daughter of the owner of the house fell on deaf ears as the mob threatened to burn down the house and started destroying the window fittings in the house. Throughout this time all attempts to get the police in Igbokoda, a town about 16 kilometres from our community, to come to our rescue proved abortive as they said they did not have fuel in their vehicles.
“When the crowd finally got to the window fitting of the room we were in, they saw my other cabinet members including Oyinbo (the deceased), but they didn’t see me as I was hiding under the bed.
“Attempt by oyinbo(deceased) to escape the crowd only got him blows of machete and sticks fixed with nails to the head.
“When the crowd saw the rate at which he was bleeding, they decided to stop the blood and took him to a hospital where he later died after futile attempts to save his life by the medical team at the hospital.”
A footage showed a crowd comprising some youths and other residents marching across the town, chanting provocative songs and saying that the community had no traditional ruler (Baale).
There are other videos showing the crowd attacking houses with sticks and cutlasses as they marched on the town.
Another video showed moments the mob used a piece of cloth to stop Joel’s bleeding in the head while some persons in the background yelled in Yoruba, “Die if you want to die, Oyinbo(Joel), you are a wicked person.”
It was said that the community was founded on February16, 1948, as a rapprochement to mitigate a prolonged confrontation between traditional worshippers and members of the Cherubim and Seraphim Church (C&S) by the monarch of Ugbo kingdom, Oba Samuel Ejagboma.
It was said that six villages, namely Idogun, Abetobo, Olotu, Yaaye, Erun-ona and Ugboti, who had received Christianity through the late founder of C&S Church, Moses Orimolade, requested permission to establish a community where they could situate a church and worship, and the request was granted by the then monarch of Ugboland, Oba Ejagboma.
Initially, the leader of the church was held in high esteem as the leader of the community (Olori ijo Ilu), while the C&S Church was considered the community’s only recognised church. However, with the passage of time, a Baale, who is a representative of the king (Oba of Ugboland) was appointed in the community.
It was said that the process of selection and appointment of Chief Adebowale Ebiwano as Baale of Ugbonla was done in line with the established tradition and culture of Ugboland.
It was said that the rejection of a certain contestant to the stool triggered the mayhem on February 13 during which Joel was attacked and killed by a mob sympathetic to the contestant who failed to clinch the stool as Baale.
“Things have not been the same in the community since the appointment of Chief Ebiwano; it has been from one conflict to another. Even in 2020, the matter was taken to the then Commissioner of Police in Ondo for mediation, which brought relative peace to the town.
“But the devil reared its ugly head again in the town when rumours of the death of Oba Obateru Akinruntan, who only travelled outside the country, started circulating in Ugbo kingdom, and it was gathered that the parties who didn’t want Chief Ebiwano to govern the community saw this as an opportunity to unseat him,’’ a source said.
In a statement issued on behalf of his cabinet members, Chief Ebiwano urged the state government and police authorities to contain the conflict and save them from continuous threats from the mastermind of the mayhem that led to Joel’s death.
The statement reads in part: “It is appalling that despite efforts made by the Baale of Ugbonla and his cabinet members and families to enter their houses and go about their normal businesses/work in Ugbonla, some gangsters continue to threaten to kill Baale, his cabinet members and families if they are sighted in Ugbonla community.
“The nightmare of how Idowu Babalowo Joel was murdered and the attempted murder carried out on Baale and his cabinet members still resonate in their minds till this moment”.
An inquiry sent to the Commissioner of Police, CP Wilfred Olatokunbo Afolabi for his comment on the matter had not been returned as of press time.
