•Late Aderogba
The ruling Accord Party and the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) have been locked in a discord over the recent cold-blooded killing of a youth in the Esa-Oke community in Osun State, in which the ruling party claimed the deceased was its leading youth member. This article unmasks the dark side of the deceased kept away from the public, reports The Nation.
The brutal killing of a youth in Osun State, Ajayi Busayo Aderogba, recently sparked a row attended with protests, name-calling, finger-pointing, accusations and counter-accusations in the political circles of the State of the Living Spring.
The Accord Party and Governor Ademola Adeleke fumed that the late Aderogba was a frontline youth leader killed by the opposition to stall his re-election.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) on its part denied harbouring the people responsible for his death, asking the governor and his party to look elsewhere for the masterminds.
But who really was Aderogba, an indigene of Esa Oke, Obokun Local Government Area of Osun State, beyond the political undertone surrounding his death?
Checks in the neighbourhood of the community revealed a revered young man with whispers of a ruthless street overlord who transitioned into a political mercenary.
Sources in the community said his name struck fear in the hearts of others on the streets, and he protected himself with chaos and fortified himself with charms against bullets until his bloody end on June 23 at the hands of unidentified hoodlums who accosted him while he was preparing to attend a political rally to support the second-term bid of Governor Ademola Adeleke.
In the town, conversations around the dastardly killing unmasked the deceased as a tough chieftain of the Eiye cult group and that he once held the second position of the cult group in Esa–Oke where a state-owned College of Technology is situated.
While he answered Aderogba in familial and social circles, his moniker in the cult group, Ogongo, is mentioned with deference by members.
“The late Aderogba’s name in the group is Ogongo, a Yoruba name for the Ostrich. His name popped up in reprisal attacks involving rival cult groups in the recent past before he was recruited as a mercenary to intimidate political opponents,’’ a source said.
Sources said in the build-up to the 2019 elections, the deceased was allegedly fingered in the death of a youth called Moro, who was a member of a rival cult group, and another young man called Abayomi. He was said to have used his political connections to evade justice.
A source said: “Yes, Aderogba’s killing was gruesome. However, he was a leading member of the Eiye cult group and fortified himself with charms with which he escaped killings by rival groups in the past. He was involved in the killing of some youths who were members of rival cult groups.
“While his death is painful, what the people asking for justice in government circle did not reveal was his life as a notorious cultist and political mercenary. He lived his life on the fast lane, and I think that he was taken out by the people who know his weakness.
“On the day of his killing, he was discussing with one of the youths in town when his assailants appeared from nowhere and opened fire on him, but the bullets were neutralised by the charms he had on him.
“However, his assailants possibly might have been tipped off by his close associates that the bags he carried around his body contained his bulletproof charms. Hence, they snatched it from him and shot him multiple times and he fell in a pool of his blood and died.’’
Another resident of Esa-Oke identified simply as Oluwaseun said: “Rogba was the second in command in the hierarchy of the Eiye Confraternity and was linked to the recent killing of one Moro, whose cult group had vowed to avenge the killing. And we learnt that the day he was killed coincided with the memorial anniversary of one of his victims.
“He also shot dead one Abayomi, a student at Osun State College of Technology, on June 23, 2018. The day Aderogba was killed marked exactly eight years since he killed the boy.
“Unfortunately, Abayomi was the only child of his parents. The deceased was arrested and subsequently remanded.
“However, he used his connections in the political circles to secure his freedom from custody while his political associates pressured Abayomi’s bereaved family to withdraw the case from court.’’
The source added that while Aderogba’s brutal killing might look political, it is also possible that it was carried out by a rival group to avenge the killing of their members allegedly linked to Aderogba.
In a social media remark on the incident and its aftermath on insecurity in Osun State, an indigene of Esa Oke, Akinyinka Abodunrin, also linked the incident to cultism.
The post said: “Shun cultism, because he who killed by the sword, surely, surely, by the sword he will be killed.
“With all indications, l strongly believe that the death of Aderogba is nowhere attached or connected to any political rivalry but it’s pure cult rivalry, and this is a common phenomenal and practice among them since time in memory, and this has never be a hidden fact that we all know.. that’s called striking mode (sic)!’’
A footage shared on a Naija Confra on Wednesday June 24 gave a veneer to Aderogba’s membership of Eiye Confraternity and his escapades as a chieftain of the group.
The narrative accompanying the video, which captured the deceased’s moments with other members of his cult group, read in part: ’’Yesterday (Tuesday, June 23), a popular Eiye (ACN) cultist, former number 2 man in the Eiye cult group (World Ostrich Brazilian Nest), and an indigene of Esa-Oke, named Aderogba or Rogba, was killed in Esa-Oke, Osun State.
“Cultism was initially mentioned because Rogba had been linked to many killings in the area. Aye cult group (otherwise called NBM) was initially mentioned because Rogba was implicated in the death of Moro, an Aye (cult member) killed on March 27 and reported by Naija Confra on March 28.
“Buccaneers (BAN) were also mentioned because yesterday marked the 8th anniversary of the killing of a Buccaneer at Blue Roof Hostel; an incident in which Rogba was also mentioned.
“We gathered from residents that indigenes are generally not targeted in the area, as Esa-Oke indigenes are united regardless of the group they belong to.
“Rogba was a native doctor who was spiritually fortified and had reportedly escaped death many times in the past.
“It was reported that there was an event yesterday, and ‘Rogba attended without his charms. Sources reported that he was taken unawares by political thugs from the rival party, who killed him.
“His Eiye (ACN) cult group has already released a song in his memory. In the song, you can hear Rogba World “Ogongo” (which means ostrich).
“Eiye hit squad is also planning retaliation against the political thugs who they believe were responsible for his death.’’
The tribute song eulogised the deceased thus: “Rogba is my rugged ‘Ogongo/please take care of Machalla (a deceased leader of the group), the World Ibaka o/Rogba the son of Mary, you’re the ‘Ogongo/Rogba sells multiple trouble for five kobo/ you have no choice but to comport yourself in his presence…’
Death sparks tension, attacks
The tension trailing the killing has since spread to other parts of the state, particularly the capital, Osogbo. On Friday, June 26, a suspected Aiye cult leader identified simply as Blackman was reportedly killed by members of the Eiye confraternity in the Ayekale area of Osogbo in what appeared a calculated onslaught on rival cult groups in the state to avenge Aderogba’s cold-blooded murder. The deceased was said to be the leader of okada (commercial motorcycle) riders in the area.
The violent attacks continued on Saturday, June 27, when one Taoreed Mustapha sustained gunshot injuries after he was attacked in a drive-by shooting in front of his father’s house at Oluode Aranyin area of Osogbo in broad daylight. Same day, one Ayodele Idowu was attacked by three men in the Gbonmi area of Osogbo while he was packing some music equipment.
Adeleke, APC trade words
A statement posted by the spokesperson for the Adeleke Campaign Organisation, Pelumi Olajengbesi, on his Facebook account shortly after the incident on June 23, accused a member of the House of Representatives and Director-General of the Osun State Governorship Campaign Council of the APC, Hon. Oluwole Oke of complicity in the attack that led to Aderogba’s death.
According to Olajengbesi, Oke had attempted to frustrate the planned political event in the community by orchestrating the attack during which Aderogba was killed. Olajengbesi described Aderogba as a committed supporter of Governor Adeleke and the Accord Party.
However, Oke, in a statement issued on Wednesday by his media aide, Tunde Omolebi-Sunday, denied the allegations and described his alleged complicity in the murder case as false and misleading.
“We therefore firmly state that Hon. Oluwole Oke and the APC have no connection whatsoever to the death of Ajayi Rogba. Any attempt to link them to this tragic occurrence without substantiated evidence is false, misleading, and must be rejected,”
Oke also knocked Olajengbesi for making unsubstantiated allegations while the police investigation into the incident had not been concluded.
“Such conclusions, made without any credible investigation or report from security agencies, are not only premature but deeply irresponsible.
“As a legal practitioner, he ought to understand the primacy of evidence, due process, and responsible public communication,” the statement said.
Oke said he was shocked and sad over Aderogba’s death and extended condolences to the deceased’s family, friends and residents of Esa Oke.
The statement noted that although only a proper investigation could determine the facts, preliminary accounts of the incident from the community indicated that the incident may have been a reprisal attack involving rival groups, adding that “matters of life and death should not be trivialised or reduced to political tools.”
Adeleke, during a condolence visit to the family of the deceased youth in Esa- Oke, had accused members of the opposition APC of being responsible for the killing and thereafter demanded the redeployment of the state police commissioner.
“As innocent blood continues to be shed, the perpetrators must know that justice will prevail. The blood of the victims will cry out against their killers,” the governor said.
“The patience of our people is wearing thin. This is why I am once again calling on the Inspector-General of Police to reshuffle the command structure in Osun and address what appears to be a deliberate failure to arrest identified suspects,’’ Adeleke added.
Meanwhile, a statement issued by the spokesman of APC in the state, Chief Kola Olabisi, condemned Aderogba’s murder and sought a thorough police investigation to arrest the culprits.
The party also berated Governor Adeleke for accusing the APC of complicity in Aderogba’s murder, describing the governor’s allegations as hasty and inflammatory.
The statement reads: ‘’It is wrong of the embattled governor to weaponise the unpleasant killing of Aderogba as an instrument to chase away from Esa-Oke some of the members and leaders of our party who are wrongfully being framed as being responsible for the killing to create a non-level playing ground for the forthcoming 15th August, 2026, governorship election.
“Here’s reiterating to the members of the public that our party, which has peaceful characteristics as its hallmark, hasn’t changed its posture and it would not now, for any reason, imbibe the culture of violence and brigandage which it is not known for.
“The leader of the APC in Osun State, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola, the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy; our governorship candidate, Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji AMBO; the Director-General of AMBO Campaign Council, Hon. Wole Oke and other leaders and members of our party are men and women of exemplary embodiment of peace in all ramifications.
“Governor Adeleke should stop jumping the gun, do away with inflammatory statements, honourably act and behave his office as the chief law officer of the state and not the chief promoter of avoidable crises in the state.
“May God grant the bereaved family of Esa-Oke the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss of their loved one,’’ the statement added.
IGP links incident to cult-related violence
Meanwhile, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Tunji Disu, has linked the increasing violent incidents in Osun State to reprisals attacks spilling over from the 2022 governorship election, allegedly perpetrated by rival cult groups.
IGP Disu has therefore ordered the Osun State Commissioner of Police Ibrahim Gotan and other security operatives to smoke out cultists from their hideouts ahead of the August 15, 2026 governorship poll.
The IGP issued the order on Friday, June 26 at a stakeholders’ security meeting attended by Osun State Resident Electoral Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), heads of security agencies and the leadership of the Christians Association of Nigeria (CAN), among others, held at the Osun State Police Command.
Disu, who was represented by the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) in charge of Southwest, Adegoke Fayoade convened the meeting after a similar meeting that was to be held on Wednesday, following rising violent attacks across the state was shunned by Accord Party and All Progressives Congress (APC).
“This situation is a spillover of 2022 and it is like we are going back to that terror. We must not let this happen.
“There is no benefit in cultism. The only benefit is that they live on their sorrow and tears. I don’t think any society should tolerate that.
“When I was Commissioner of Police in Lagos, I dealt with them and there was no trace of cultism again. So the CP Osun State, in collaboration with other agencies, we need to know their hideouts, get credible information about them, smoke them out and deal with them within the ambit of the law, regardless of where they belong.”
He added: “We don’t care whether they belong to any political party. Ours is that they must not disturb the peace of the people. They must not go about their reckless killing.
“On a very serious note, the CP has to collaborate with other agencies. We don’t care what people, whatever affiliation they have or party they are, as long as they are disturbing the peace of the people, they must be brought to book.
“One funny thing about them is that if one cult group kills one person today, the other person will revenge tomorrow and they will be counting scores.
“It is a kind of competition; a bad competition over somebody’s precious life.
“You can see that those boys are not mentally stable. So we don’t have to tolerate them.”
