The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Owo

  • Ondo police kill six Owo bank robbers, N9m recovered

    Ondo police kill six Owo bank robbers, N9m recovered

    The Police in Ondo State have promised tough times for armed robbers and other criminals in the state following revelations that six of the seven robbers that raided some commercial banks in Owo recently were killed and about N9million recovered from them. DAMISI OJO reports.

    Though the dust is settling gradually on the recent bank robbery that shook Owo town in Ondo State, facts have emerged that no fewer than six of the seven armed robbers involved in the operation were gunned down by the police.

    The seventh member of the gang was also arrested by the police who also recovered about N9million from the robbers.

    No fewer than 20 persons including the manager of one of the four banks raided by the robbers were killed during the robbery attack which took place penultimate Thursday and shook the ancient town to its foundation.

    Sources told The Nation that the men of the underworld struck around 4 pm on the fateful day and robbed four different commercial banks in the town in almost total impunity, killing their victims at random. But they met their match in the police who appeared on the scene not too long after.

    As they made to escape, the special anti robbery squad from the state police command arrived the town and engaged the robbers killing six of them. The seventh member was arrested.

    But while their operation lasted, the robbers turned the town into a ghost of itself as residents were forced to stay indoors to avoid being caught in any crossfire..

    Those living near the banks where the robbers operated moved to other parts of the town apparently for fear of attack by the evil men.

    The victims of the robbery incident were rushed to the Federal Medical Centre, (FMC) Owo where many of them later gave up the ghost, while some are still responding to medical treatment.

    The state Police Commissioner, Mr Isaac Eke who spoke through the Police Public

    Relations Officer (PPRO) for the state Police Command, Mr Wole Ogodo said the Police swooped into action immediately they were alerted about the robbery incident.

    He noted that the efforts of the Police led to the recovery of some amount of money with various arms and ammunition used by the robbers during their operation, adding that the working synergy in the Police assisted them to track down one of the suspect.

    He confirmed that six of the robbers were killed by the policemen deployed to the town by the police command and their corpses already in the custody of the Police.

    Also, Mr Eke who paraded the deceased armed robbers at the state Police headquarters in Akure hinted that the Police are already interrogating the only surviving suspect arrested in connection with the incident, adding that he was helping the Police in their investigations.

    The Police boss disclosed further that three cars used by the armed robbers during the robbery operation were also seized by the Police, while a huge sum of money totaling almost N9million was recovered from the suspected robbers when the Police attacked them.

    He said the Police in the state would continue to protect the lives and properties of the people adding that “there cannot be any hidden place for armed robbers in Ondo state with the efforts put in place by the Police in the state”.

  • Owo prince boosts ICT education

    A Philanthropist, Prince Adesola Olateru-Olagbegi, has donated a computer skills acquisition centre to the people of Owo Local Government Area of Ondo State.

    The centre is an addition to a resource centre built by his family in honour of his late mother, Olori Florence Adeoti Olagbegi-Olateru.

    The centre is expected to offer Information Communication Technology training to adults, pupils and students for free.

    The donor said since the centre was constructed in 2009 by the children of the late Olori, the place has served as an adult training centre for residents of the ancient kingdom and produced three sets of trainees in various fields.

    He noted that he decided to establish the computer centre because he discovered that many people in the community do not have knowledge of ICT.

    “Today, there is nothing you want to do without computer and I am worried that our people not only in Owo but in some other places in Nigeria are still lagging behind. We still have some university graduates who cannot operate computer and this centre will serve and train them freely.

    “This is our own quota to the development our community because government cannot do it alone. This community belongs to us. We should focus on maintaining all the government infrastructures and as individuals we should come out and see what we can do to support our communities.”

    While urging residents of the community to register free for the training, Olateru-Olagbegbi assured them that he would continue to collaborate with people who are ready to impact on the community.

    A Senior Special Assistant to Governor Olusegun Mimiko on Direct Labour, Mrs. Mobolaji Suara, urged the people to embrace the opportunity  and be computer literate.

     

  • Upo Village and its mysteries

    Upo Village and its mysteries

    In the small village of Upo in Ondo State are various and interesting ancient things that would make one marvel. Taiwo Abiodun reports

    AT the entrance of the village is the billboard that reads” Welcome to Upo Community.” Upo is a hamlet. It is very close to Iyere, in Owo Local Government Area, Ondo State. It is along Benin Road, about 35 minutes drive to the ancient city.

    Apart from the community’s royal palace which  is still under construction, there are thatch-roofed houses,  bamboo sheds, mud houses and also a few buildings made of bricks with corrugated  iron sheets. The villagers are mainly peasant farmers, tilling the ground and grazing animals. Majority of the villagers are Christians and Muslims while only few openly practice African traditional religions. This notwithstanding, they all live in harmony .The environment is peaceful and neat with different plants and shrubs dotting the landscape.  The spiritual and community leader, Chief Adewale Ojo, 75 years old, who is a peasant farmer, did not hide his profession as he was met with his cutlass in his hands and his hoe placed on his shoulder- evidencing that he was just arriving from the farm.

    Road to Upo

    At the Iyere junction along Benin Road is the beautiful signpost showing the road to Upo Village. According to Chief Gbenga Alade, an historian and a researcher (and also the Vice Principal of Ijebu Community High School), the name Upo was inherited from Ile Ife.  There is also a hamlet in the main Ile-Ife Town.

    The monarch of the village, His Highness Adewale Ojo, said it is forbidden to offload or carry load on one’s head at the entrance of the gate leading to Upo. He said, “We don’t do it. It is forbidden and it is calamitous, no one should carry load or offload or place load on his head at the entrance of this village here. We all know that it is forbidden.”

    Asked what could happen if that is done, the village head shook his head with pity and said, “That is how we met it and we must obey it.”

    Mysterious ditches

    Going round the village one could see ditches dug round it though the ditches are shallow but it was deeper than this when it was dug. According to one of the most respectable sons of Upo , Mr. Akinwale  Francis Oladimeji, “These ditches were dug  round Upo during the  period of our forefathers. If you go round the village you will still see them, we call it yara. Enemies had never been here to fight us. Anytime they were preparing and organising to wage war, they would be destabilised and confused and they would change their mind by fighting themselves. Examples abound. We had never been at war with anybody. I remember when ‘Ado’ people (Benin) came to wage war against us, they could not enter the town as they were confused and while many were jumping into the ditches others were drowning, and we never went to war with them.”

    “We won the war not only because of the ditches we dug to safeguard us here. Traditionally, that in the history of Yoruba race, no warrior had ever succeeded in coming here to wage war against us or conquered us here and, it had never been witnessed here for they would all have perished. History is there to attest to this,” he said with confidence, beating his chest, and added, “That is how it is from time immemorial, you can see that this place is small, our population is not many but the people here are very, very powerful. Our forefathers safeguarded this town with unseen powers that can never be unravelled. That is why that neighbouring towns and villages still fear us till today, for they did not understand where we got the power from.”

    Though they were feared, believing they had powerful soldiers and armaments, they were despised because of their number, they fought with their trenches, supported by the rivers that also surrounded the village. One of the villagers recalled: “The Ogboho River used to defend us in the past; it would rise and cover the enemies who came against us during war times.  War could never get here. It was once a big river where. Today, we the indigenes use to bathe in it.”

    The village head declared, “We used to kidnap healthy and robust people in the olden days and they were made to work for the progress of the town unlike nowadays when they use human beings for rituals. All these things were done during the slave trade, unlike now when they are killing them .We did not kill any kidnapped victim then and we called it kodokodo. If you wanted your hamlet to be beautiful, you have to kidnap hefty and healthy men and make them work for you , make them work in your farm or for the town.”

    According to investigation, the village has been in existence since the 18th century. No one knows exactly the date due to lack of records. But the story has it that the people migrated from Ile Ife, where the Yoruba progenitor, Oduduwa the founder of Yoruba race, came from.

    Mysterious leaf!

    There is a mysterious leaf in the town. In local parlance it is called Ewe Ayira (Wandering leaf). According to the villagers, no stranger, however smart he is, plucks the leaf and goes scot free. Any stranger that plucks it would be restless, moving from one place to another and would not leave the vicinity until he drops it.

    It is difficult to differentiate the leaf as it looks like ordinary ones and could be mistaken for the ones used for wrapping moinmoin, pounded yam, pap or whatever. The village head told the story of the mysterious leaf. He said, “Our forefathers migrated from Ile Ife in the 1880s, they came with many mysterious things and  they planted and buried many fetish  things here for our security and to make sure war will not be experienced here. This leaf is among those security measures they added to it.

    “We have caught strangers who stole our agricultural products but added this leaf in their load, not knowing its implication, because the leaves could be taken for the ordinary household leaves meant for wrapping pap, moinmoin and many other things. It is now due to civilisation and pressure that we are trying to have a police station here now. We don’t have a police post here and nobody steals here but now due to civilisation and in order to follow the trend of time, the community has now donated some plots of land to the police to build a police station there in order to fulfil all righteousness in this modern world.”

    The mysterious stone (Ota Kobo)

    Discovered  in the village  to the amazement  of the  community is a strange stone  called Ota Kobo (Kobo stone) .The  mysterious stone has holes  of  shoe sizes that will fit in a newly born baby’ s feet and also matured men and women of all ages. According to Madam Ajike Filani who is one of the residents of the community, “We discovered it a long time ago but with no access to the media, we could not publicise it. We also discovered special natural artistic drawings on the stone .We cannot read them and they have meanings .We called it Ota Kobo. It has many designs on it.  We don’t know how they came about. We called it Oyinbo Kaa ti (The White men found it difficult to interpret. On the stone are designs of chairs, legs and other natural things engraved on them naturally.”

    “We were glad that we could see this stone among the precious things what our forefathers left behind for us. Now we have inherited it and many people have been coming here to have a look at it. We were told by our parents that our forefathers used to offer sacrifice to it whenever there was calamity, such as when it failed to rain or during outbreak of diseases. We all do this irrespective of our different religions.”