Ado-Ekiti is experiencing a rise in gunmen related killings across the once peaceful Ekiti town. Residents are crying out on social media after a series of killings in the metropolis. Nigeria is experiencing the worst economy in 100 years with criminal activities spreading fast.
Social media user @debi.wumi wrote on Twitter: “These shootings in Ado Ekiti are getting out of hand. I was somewhere, and people were talking about how safe it used to be in our town, but now, we wake up to bad news almost every day. Some were blaming the Govt/economy, some were blaming the security system. It’s tiring”
The Ekiti State Police Command recently arrested a Police Inspector, Hillary Garcha, AP NO 272969, attached to the command’s Safer Highway Patrol, Ado-Ekiti for allegedly supplying arms and ammunition to various robbery groups.
Security situation in Ado Ekiti State
It has been a series of shooting and killings of mainly vulnerable targets recently in Ado Ekiti State. From POS operators to ticketers.
Following a recent security threat to life and property in the Area, members of the Ibukun Oluwa community in the Ajebandele Area of Ado Ekiti called on the state government to intervene on their behalf earlier this year. Businesswoman Mrs. Bosede Adewunmi was slain after being assaulted and robbed by armed men, and the public expressed their unhappiness over her death.
Mrs Adewunmi was busy attending to her store, when the three unsuspecting armed men suddenly barged inside her shop and stabbed her severally before shooting her and made away with her money. She was confirmed dead few hours after being taken to the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital Ado Ekiti due to multiple stab wounds in her body and gun shot.
After an accident in the Omisanjana neighbourhood on May 28, 2024, at around ten o’clock at night, some enraged youngsters tried to overthrow the driver and set the car on fire. To defuse the situation, the police were called, but when they came, the teens refused to back down.
Two of the young people were struck by an inadvertent gunshot during the officer’s attempt to scatter the group of them. Despite being sent to the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital immediately, the victims did not make it.
Few days after, a Federal poly Ado student was shot and attacked by a bikeman along NTA Road in Ado Ekiti. She was not fatally hit but was on a wheelchair as friends and family campaigned on social media to raise money for her.
The police has equally being solving some cases, securing convictions. It can be recalled that on June 2, 2024 at about 10pm, a gang of robbers, numbering about eight, stormed Oshodi Community, Ado-Ekiti, armed to the teeth with sophisticated guns. Obiyomi Oluwatunmise, who is 20 years old, was robbed and sustained a gunshot injury on his right hand.
The culprit, Boka, 34, was taken into custody by Senior Police Officer Superintendent of Police Oke Ila and his colleagues from the Ekiti State Police Command. During the arrest, police also found an AK-47 weapon with Breech Number NA2329 and one magazine filled with two rounds of live 7.62mm ammunition.
After more work, members of the Ekiti State Police Command’s Rapid Response Squad found an AK-47 rifle with the breech number 56-25012126, three magazines, and nine rounds of live 7.62mm ammunition inside the inspector’s home in the Irona neighbourhood of the state capital, Ado-Ekiti.
This led to the arrest of Police Inspector, Hillary Garcha, AP NO 272969, attached to the command’s Safer Highway Patrol, Ado-Ekiti for allegedly supplying arms and ammunition to various robbery groups.
A middle aged man issuing tickets to commercial motorcyclists was shot dead by the unknown men who came on another motorcycle on the 18th of June 2024 around Okesa Roundabout, Ado Ekiti. The attack was also confirmed by the spokesperson for Ekiti State Police Command, DSP Sunday Abutu who said investigation has commenced.
In the early hours of Thursday June 20th 2024, gunmen shot and killed a Point of Sale agent popularly known as Alfa. The incident happened at the shop of the victim which is located adjacent the gate of the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital, Ado Ekiti.
Alfa is well known in the area with the display of bread on his vehicle and always available with cash. According to reports, the gunmen who came on a motorbike shot at Alfa and made away with his money and other valuables. One person who was transacting with him when the incident happened was said to have also sustained injury.
