Gloomy day in Osun 

The once peaceful and serene State of Osun where people and things were safe has now been exchanged with a state bedeviled with various social atrocities. What has happened to the once peaceful state of the righteous still remains a mystery.

Perhaps it is being influenced by the general world where the unbelievable happens and the unimaginable is now being heard.

From the several petty stealing to fraud to kidnapping to rape and finally to the peak, murder in various forms, Osun has become the exact opposite of its slogan “The land of virtue”.

Various cases have been heard in recent times of gruesome murder. One of such cases was that of a man who was found with the head, wrists and vagina of an elderly woman, another was the 80 year old granddaddy in whose house several decomposing body parts of different people were found.

What is more alarming however is the rate at which the students of the institution in the state, Osun State University known as UNIOSUN fall into the hands of these evil people.

Recounting from Adebisi Rofiat, a 400 level student studying Science Education whose dead body was found in a bush shortly after she was declared missing to the mystery disappearance of two final year students of Computer Science department of the same University, it seems herbalists really have their eyes on the school.

The peak happened when another 400 level student of the institution from Microbiology department, Oluwafemi Sonibare Timileyin’s decomposing body parts were found in the early hours of Tuesday beside a mosque right in front of his hostel.

Timileyin who was declared missing about nine days to the time his headless body was found, was initially thought to have gone home for the Eid il Fitri festival which was around the corner then.

His colleagues however woke up to the shocker news on Tuesday when his headless decomposing body was found beside the Jafariyat mosque.

Students went berserk
The students of the institution had gone berserk after this horrible discovery. They had burnt down the mosque with the shops in front of it and as if that was not enough, they had also besieged the state capital, Osogbo the following day.

The protest started from the school gate in Oke-baale through to the popular Olaiya junction down to the state secretariat at Abere with the students making bonfires along the roads.

Dressed in black, the students who came out in their thousands were seen carrying sticks and chasing people. The traders particularly, hurriedly closed down their shops for fear of attack by the students who looked daring enough.

The students in their aggression had also attacked the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) Correspondents Chapel where a young reporter, Seun Adesokan was beaten up. Our reporter was almost lynched when she was trying to take pictures too.

Not only was the atmosphere tensed, the day was black too. It was really a day mixed with students’ agitation to be secured in their environment of learning and the residents’ sympathy for yet another loss.

Police react
Immediately the case of the missing student was reported to the police, they had swung into action. During the course of investigation, three guys were arrested and paraded as the killers of Timileyin.

The suspects included Sakariyau Abdulrafiu aged 19, Ibrahim Ayuba aged 24 and Yusuf Aliu aged 18. The trio had confessed to killing the deceased with a pestle and got his remains dismembered and subsequently roasted with the aim of using the parts for rituals.

Sakariyau claimed to be an apprentice learning charms and voodoo and had connived with the other two for money ritual.

Another version of the news had it that the three boys were fraudsters and had wanted to take the business to the advanced stage called Yahoo plus and had gone to meet the owner of the mosque which was burnt for help. It was heard that it was the owner of the mosque who asked them to bring the head and wrist of a male.

During the parade, the police Commissioner, CP Olafimihan Adeoye said investigations were ongoing to get more facts and that the culprits would be prosecuted accordingly.

Aregbesola, Speaker, others express shock
The state governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola in a release signed by the Commissioner for Information, Mr. Adelani Baderinwa commiserated with the family of the deceased and urged the students to keep calm. Also, the speaker of the state House of Assembly, Hon. Salaam Najeem charged the police to prosecute the suspects accordingly and as soon as possible.

Also Tiwa N Tiwa L’Osun,a sociopolitical group founded by AbdulRasheed Adegoke and Osogbo Affairs Foundation (OSAF) condemned the gruesome murder of the promising student.

Losses of Timileyin’s death
The death of Timileyin still remains a dream to most of his colleagues because he lived such a quite life, he was intelligent, humble and well reserved and most of all, he was a promising young fellow,he was in 400 level!

After all the pains of writing Jamb, seeking admission, finally gaining admission and studying so hard because you know your future depends on it from year one to two to three then four and for some jobless, heartless and vision less boys to snatch such life from you, then one can only imagine the pains and agony the parents of the deceased must be going through right now and the fear his fellow students must be in as it seems they have become easy preys to the wicked ones.