By Ola ‘Kiya, Reporting
A fruit seller, who was gathering fruits for sale on her farm in the Zion area of Igbokoda, headquarters of Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State, has been gang-raped and killed by suspected herdsmen.
The middle-aged woman was identified as Mrs Roseline Joguntan.
The woman had left home with her daughter to the farm to pick fruits for sale when the incident happened.
Mrs Joguntan had asked her daughter to take a basket of fruit home and waiting for her returned when the hoodlums waylaid and killed her after violating her.
On her return to the farm, the daughter met the corpse of her mother in a pool of her blood.
The little girl rushed home to inform her father about the incident who also rushed to the farm to meet her dead.
He was said to have called his wife’s mobile phone repeatedly without getting a response.
Narrating what could have transpired, the husband said: “after gathering the first basket of the fruits, she told her child to take it home.
“It was when the girl came back that she noticed that her mother was missing before she was later found dead in the bush and it was discovered that she was raped and killed.”
However, the residents of the community have fingered some northerners in the community, most of whom have begun to move out of the community.
According to residents, the woman was gang-raped and killed by unknown gunmen suspected to be herdsmen.
They maintained that no sooner the incident happened, than some herdsmen began to vacate the town in droves.
The Public Relations Officer (PRO), Ilaje Security Council, Prince Emorioloye Owolemi, called on the state government to come to their rescue in Igbokoda.
Lamenting that killings were becoming rampant in the local government, he said “it is so sad that Igbokoda is witnessing the highest security threat.
“It has become daily killings. People live in fear and business activities have been paralyzed.
“Therefore, we are calling on the state government to please help in strengthening local vigilante in Igbokoda.
“The Security Task Force, Mr Governor directed the council chairman to organize has not been done since.
“We are determined to fight for justice on behalf of any of our citizens, and before things get out of hands in Igbokoda, all perpetrators need to face the full wrath of the law.”
Owolemi, however, called on the Commissioner of Police in Ondo State and other security agencies to, as a matter of urgency, unravel the circumstances that led to the killing of Mrs Joguntan and bring the perpetrators to the book.
The State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Funmilayo Odunlami, who confirmed the incident, said the command had commenced investigation into the matter, adding that the remains of the woman had been deposited at a morgue.
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