Tension ran through Roro village, along Mile 8, in the Obafemi Owode local government area of Ogun State, when a cattle rearer reported his son missing after being chased away from a farm.

Rumours of an imminent Fulani herder invasion began to circulate as search efforts grew more intense.

The police, hunters, and community members banded together to find the youngster, whose body was ultimately found in a shallow grave.

According to DAILY POST, it was gathered that the community leaders suggested that everyone should take an oath for the truth to be revealed within 7 days.

However, a farmer and hunter identified as Taiwo Amos, confessed to carrying out the dastard act before the oath was taken.

I followed the voice in my head – Suspect explains

It was Tuesday, September 2nd, Amos, a widower and father of three visited his farm after church service to see whether the trap he set had caught any animal for his family’s meal.

On arrival, he met a herdsboy tending cattle alone. According to him, he suddenly felt an irresistible urge to kill the boy.

I came back from church, stood up and went to check on my trap. When I got to the bush I saw him(herds-boy) from a distance and a thought just came to my mind, telling me to go and kill him.

“I hurriedly went after him and killed him, it was after I killed him I saw a lot of cows scattered,” he confessed.

When asked if the cows ate his crops causing him to act out of annoyance, he responded saying, “He didn’t offend me at all, to be honest even his cows did not eat my crops”.

The incident created tension in the community, and left questions on the street if the suspect’s action was a descent into madness or a calculated brutality.

Amos, who insisted that he acted alone, explained that he made his confession because he was afraid of the oath and didn’t want his children or innocent people to suffer.

He said, “When investigation started in the village, they suggested that everyone should take an oath and within 7 days the truth will come out. Out of fear I went to meet the hunters and confessed that I was the one who killed the Fulani man, that was when I was brought to the police station.

“When the police arrested me, the story I told them was that I heard people shouting ‘thief’ and someone asked me to shoot him, (herder) but that’s all lies. I came out to say the truth because of the curses from the people I accused, I don’t want anything to happen to my children.

“I cut his legs because I was tired from digging the ground, so I had to bury him like that, no one assisted me in cutting or burying him and no one saw me shooting him,” he explained.

The suspect however, pleaded for mercy saying, “I want the government to please have mercy on me, I’m a first time offended”.

I consulted Sango (god of thunder) for the search of this suspect – Baale reveals

The Baale of Abule Akin in Itoko Mile 8, Fatai Akande Adebayo, disclosed that he had to consult Sango, the god of thunder, after several searches to find the suspected killer proved abortive.

Adebayo clarified that although the incident did not happen in his village, operatives of the Kemta and Eleweran division of the police had come to them, seeking collaboration on getting the culprits.

He noted that the wandering cows moved into their village after the herder died.

It was learnt that Roro village is about three miles away from Abule Akin.

The Baale said, “This issue didn’t happen in Abule Akin, Itoko mile 8, It happened in Abule Roro Ijemo. Police officers from Eleweran came to seek assistance on how to apprehend the suspect.

The DPO of Kemta previously came, he asked us to join hands together on finding the suspected killer, so I called all the hunters in the village, and instructed them to go into the bush. They searched 3 times and didn’t find anything.

“When they failed, I decided that the next step was to consult Sango (god of thunder). It was the same night I spoke about Sango, the suspect contacted one of his fellow hunters and confessed to him.

“It was because the Fulani boy died that’s why his cows moved to our village. When we saw them, the owner of the house contacted me and I told him to immediately report the incident to Kemta police station.“

Recall that on April 22, 2020, a similar incident had occurred in Gbagba Elewure village in Odeda Local Government Area of the state, where a 45-year old farmer identified as Kolese Womiloju, and his son, Taiwo Womiloju, aged 25, hacked a herder to death.

According to the then police spokesperson, Abimbola Oyeyemi, the suspects first attacked the 32-year-old victim, Abubakar Usman, immobilising him with a charm-laced ring and while he was still unconscious, they hacked him with a machete, murdering him.

They also dragged the remains of the herdsman to an abandoned well near the scene of attack and dumped them there.

It was learnt that the farmer and son had earlier warned the herdsman to remove his herds of cattle out of their area and stop grazing on their land, but the victim allegedly failed to heed to the warning.

According to information obtained, the victim allegedly disregarded the farmer and son’s earlier admonition to the herdsman to remove his cow herds from their area and stop grazing on their property