[size=14pt]LG chairman allegedly orders caning of 65-year-old man [/size]

By Sesan Olufowobi


Seeing the wounds that covered him from head to toe, one could easily conclude that Mr Yomi Oduneye was involved in an accident. The truth, however, is that the 65-year-old man was a victim of assault.




Mr Yomi Oduneye





Workers and visitors to the headquarters of Ijebu Ode Local Government at Itoro, Ijebu Ode, Ogun State were treated to an amazing spectacle penultimate Thursday when some hefty men suspected to be members of the dreaded Obanta Vigilante Group (OBG) in the town pinned the aged man to the floor and gave him the beating of his life.

Oduneye, an estate agent popularly called Yakman, believes his tormentors were acolytes of the chairman of Ijebu-Ode Local Government, Mr Mufu Giwa Oseni, with whom he had a long-term disagreement. The chairman is believed to have instructed thugs to beat Oduneye up after he (Oduneye) brushed the chairman with the side mirror of his car. However, the local government chairman, who spoke to Saturday Punch on Thursday, insists he had no hands in the fate that befell the estate agent.

Narrating his ordeal to Saturday Punch during the week, Oduneye said he had no contact whatsoever with the chairman on the said day. “He had no reason to assault me. I had no close contact with him on that day, but I learnt he claimed that I hit his hand with the side mirror of my car and called him a chief thug instead of apologising to him.”

Recalling the events of that day, Oduneye said he had gone to the Customary Court in the area and was on his way back home when he saw Oseni. “I saw him walking around the library of the secretariat and I went the other way. That was all. About 30 minutes after I got home, seven men came to my house, four of them carrying guns. They told me that the chairman wanted to see me. I asked them why they brought guns to my house. One of them shouted at me and threatened to bundle me into their vehicle if I would not cooperate with them. I was frightened and asked if they were going to kill me. They said nothing, and the man that led them pointed to the door, so I followed them.

“Immediately I got out of the house, I saw that there were more of them in the house. In fact, they were more than 30. They came in three vehicles. But as we were going, two of my employees followed us.

“When we got to the local government’s secretariat, I saw the chairman who immediately struck me with a stick. His boys joined in the spree. They lay me on the floor, held my hands and started beating me.”

But in a swift reaction, Oseni said he knew nothing about the beating that Yakman got. He said, “In fact, I was in my office when I heard the commotion. I came out to see what was going on and discovered that Oduneye had been beaten. I quickly called the Divisional Police Officer to come to the council and restore nomalcy.

“Let me tell you, I am a practising Muslim and I swear by the holy Qur’an that his account is false. If it is true that I did all this things, let all the bad things in the Qur’an be mine.

“We had a voluntary HIV/ AIDS test programme on that day. I mobilised the staff of the local government to go to our other office to do the test. We were there for about two hours. We were all coming back when the man tried to kill me with his car. I was walking on the roadside. I think he saw me and directed his Volvo at me. I quickly dodged, but the side mirror hit my hand. I pretended that it was all a joke, because I knew the implication of trying to challenge him in the presence of the crowd I had with me. Yakman moved on. But when he got to a distance, he stopped and started shouting, ‘Chairman, thug! Chairman, thug!’ Some of the people who were with me ran towards him, but he zoomed of, and I thought that was the end of the matter.

But I felt disturbed, so I called some people on the telephone and reported him to them. Although we had no dealing in the past, Ijebu Ode is a small town. Everybody knows one another. I have been seeing him here at the secretariat, because he is always at the Customary Court.

“I got to the office still feeling disturbed. I knew that what he did was intentional because I had been told that he had threatened to kill me. He wanted a street named after him in Ijebu Ode, so he decided to rename Ononoiki Street after himself.

“The matter was reported to me on a day we had our executive meeting. I investigated and discovered that nobody in the council knew anything about the change. Nobody gave him approval. It was then that I decided that the old name should remain. He got angry and reported me to people. His lawyers wrote to me with a so-called prove that he met the requirements. But in actual fact, he got himself into another trouble, because we are investigating him for forgery and fraud.”

He showed our correspondent a document that Oduneye allegedly forwarded to the local government. It showed that whereas the council wrote to Oduneye on June 2, 2008 to pay a mandatory N10,000 if he wanted the street renamed after him, the receipt for payment did not have the logo of the local government and the sum of N20,000 was paid on May 23, ten days to the issuance of the letter.

“That was my offence,” Oseni continued. “He issued threats, but I did not take them seriously because they were verbal. And he took no action until that day. If he could do that in the midst of people, I wonder what he would do if I had been alone. He would have run over me. By the 27th of this month, I would have been eight months in office. I will then have two years and four months to go. I want to live after my tenure. I don’t want to die because somebody wanted a street named after him.”

Was that why he hired thugs to teach Oduneye a lesson?

“That is not true. I did nothing. I just went into my office. He is not telling the truth. I did not even know that the crowd caught up with him. I did not send anybody after him,” Oseni said.

But Oduneye insisted that the Chairman was the one who initiated his ordeal. “He was the first to beat me. I don’t have any dealing with him, so how could I have threatened him? I did not pass his way that day; how could I have hit him. When did I call him a thug? They beat me so badly that I defecated in my trousers. They took the money I had on me, stole my gold chain and pendant and used the police to harass me. The DPO arrested me and took me to the station. It was when he saw that I was really in a bad shape that he allowed me to go and treat myself in the hospital.”

The chairman told our correspondent on Thursday that moves were being made to settle the matter amicably. “He (Oduneye) must, however, write a letter of apology. Beating or no beating is not the issue. He tried to kill me. It was his action that caused what happened to him. He is old enough to be my father. But for crying out loud, I am the chairman. He must apologise to that office.”

http://odili.net/news/source/2008/aug/23/400.html

I thought Shariah is only practice in the north.

I thought Shariah is only practice in the north.

Yes; thats why this one made the news because it's abnormal.