Two Arrested for Killing Lagos Socialite Over Chieftaincy Tussle

• Two Arrested For Killing Lagos Socialite Over Chieftaincy Tussle

EKO HOT BLOG reports that two suspects, purported members of the Eiye confraternity, have been detained and charged with the murder of Chief Rasak Jikoji, a Lagos-based socialite and aspirant for the Badore chieftaincy seat.

The suspects, Sulaimon Ogunlana, 23, and Abiodun Taiwo, 22, were apprehended by State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department officers in Panti, Yaba, Lagos.

The two suspects are also said to have implicated one Chief Waliu Adeniran, who was a co-contestant with the late Jikoji for the chieftaincy stool of Badore in the state’s Eti-Osa Local Government Area.

Magistrate Oluwatoyin Oghre of the High Court of Lagos State had since issued a warrant of arrest on Adeniran, who is now at large. Adeniran and the two suspects were charged with conspiracy and murder.

EKO HOT BLOG recalls that 60-year-old Jikoji was reportedly assassinated on April 25, 2021 after his family nominated him as the successor to the late traditional ruler in the community, who died in June 2020.

However, some community elders reportedly backed Adeniran, whose name was forwarded to the local government secretariat.

The dispute was later taken to court.

Justice E.I. Alakija of the Lagos State High Court on March 22, 2021 subsequently ordered that the parties should maintain the status quo while the substantive suit was adjourned till May 2021.

Both Ogunlana and Taiwo were remanded in the Kirikiri Prison while the court in a warrant of arrest dated September 22, 2021, mandated the state Commissioner of Police to produce Adeniran and others at large at the next adjourned date on December 7, 2021.

According to a report by the Punch, the widow of the deceased, Olajumoke Jikoji, said the family was afraid of going to Badore since the brutal murder of her husband.

She alleged that Adeniran and some other persons in the community had been threatening her husband before his murder.

She said, “They have threatened him repeatedly and my husband wrote several petitions to Zone 2, Abuja and other police stations against Mr Adeniran even up to two weeks before they succeeded in killing him.”

Olajumoke alleged that Adeniran paraded himself as the Baale of Badore shortly after the killing of her husband.

“We appeal to the legal authorities to come to our aid and make sure that justice is served,” she added.

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