Oba Aremu-Cole, a retired senior military officer, was shot dead on Thursday night by the assailants, who invaded his palace, and his wife and two natives who live near the palace were whisked away to an unknown destination.
It was gathered that the killers also lured a salesgirl at the pub to lead them to the palace, which is located in the area. A source in Koro, who did not want his name in print, confided in Saturday PUNCH on Friday that when the assailants arrived in the town on Thursday evening, they settled in the pub to take some drinks.
The source stated, “After spending several hours at the relaxation centre and being good customers t, they now asked the salesgirl to lead them to the palace to pay obeisance to the monarch and discuss the progress of the town.
“The girl ignorantly led the three men to the palace to see the monarch and went back to continue her work at the joint.”
The immediate junior brother to the monarch, Mr Adelaja Aremu, on Friday, narrated how gunmen killed the Oba.
Adelaja, who spoke in a telephone interview with Saturday PUNCH, noted that the assailants shot his brother dead for refusing to follow their orders to stand up and come with them.
He said, “I am his immediate younger brother and I live very close to the village. Immediately gunshots were heard in the palace, I was contacted and told the gunshots.
“They (gunmen) came into the palace and met him (the monarch) and asked him to stand up. They wanted to abduct him. He refused to get up, saying that nobody could command him like that. He refused to take orders from unknown people, so they shot in the air to scare him but he wasn’t afraid.
“Of course, they knew that they met a stubborn person and that was how they shot him. This was what the houseboy told us. He (houseboy) bolted out of the palace through the back door when my brother was shot, but he saw all that transpired.”
