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Gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen, on Wednesday, attacked travellers on the Ife-Ibadan Expressway at Ikire and shot dead an employee of the Atakumosa West Local Government Area of Osun State, Samson Adenipekun.

PUNCH Metro learnt that the deceased was travelling to Ibadan, Oyo State, in an unregistered Toyota Corolla car driven by one Ismaila Olayiwola, when the incident happened.

Sources said the herdsmen fired shots at the vehicle, one of which hit Adenipekun in the head.

A security source near the scene of the incident, who preferred not to be named, said, “The man was rushed to a Catholic hospital in Oluyoro Apomu by the men of the Operation Puff Adder, who responded to a distress call. The man was confirmed dead by a doctor at the hospital.”

The source added that a search of the adjoining bush by the Operation Puff Adder personnel led to the arrest of three disabled persons.

“They were reasonably suspected to be accomplices of the hoodlums. They are already in police custody,” the source added.

The state Commissioner of Police, Abiodun Ige, confirmed the arrest of some suspects and directed diligent investigation of the incident, saying the police would ensure that the perpetrators were brought to book.

Meanwhile, the police in Ekiti State have confirmed that a herdsman beheaded a woman suspected to be his wife in Ilasa Ekiti in the Ekiti East Local Government Area of the state on Wednesday.

The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Caleb Ikechukwu, who confirmed the killing, said the suspect had been arrested while investigation into the incident had commenced.

The News Agency of Nigeria reported that tragedy struck when the herdsman allegedly cut off the head of the woman near a stream in Ilasa Ekiti, where she had gone to fetch water with her sister.

The assailant was arrested following the information provided by the deceased’s sister.

The victim was said to have been betrothed to the herdsman as a teenager, but trouble started last week when the suspect requested her to spend the Eld-el-Fitr holiday with him, but the family of the deceased failed to release her.

The Alasa of Ilasa Ekiti, Oba Ajayi Omolagba, condemned the incident and said the community had been in shock since the incident occurred.

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