Two witnesses on Wednesday gave account of how they nearly lost their lives to machete injuries allegedly inflicted on them by agents of an Oyo state traditional ruler, Oba Solomon Akinola, the Oloko of Oko.
The witnesses, Pastor Owolabi Olusegun and Olufemi Adelakun gave their testimonies before an Oyo State High Court in Ogbomoso. The court is sitting on a case of attempted murder, grievous bodily harm, robbery, land grabbing against the traditional ruler of Oko in Surulere Local Government Area of Oyo state, and 14 others.
Olusegun, a prosecution witness who was led in evidence by a lawyer prosecuting the matter, I.O. Abdulazeez, informed the court that the incident occurred on May 10, 2021 when he was walking in front of the palace of Alagba of Aagba town, a neighboring community to Oko.
“The assailants who are agents of Oba Akinola were holding cutlasses and they started pursuing me.
“When they catch up with me, they strike my head with their cutlasses, but I managed to escape.
He gave the names of those who allegedly inflicted the injuries on him as; Matthew Akintaro, a.k.a. Paimo, Sheriff Adam, a.k.a. Adamo, and Timothy Aderinto. Olusegun showed the scars from the alleged inflicted injuries to the court.
Also testifying, Adelakun said he was yet to recover from the machete injuries to his skull because his eyeballs were badly damaged.
“On that day, I came out of my house, when I heard the cry of Olusegun calling for help while he was being attacked.
“I hid in the bush, thinking that they would not see me
“When they eventually saw me, they inflicted severe cutlass injuries on my head.
“The injuries badly affected my sight, I cannot see properly again,” Adelakun said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that after hearing the testimonies of the two witnesses, Justice K.A. Adedokun adjourned the trial until December 14 for cross examination by the defense counsel and further hearing.