A journalist with The Punch, Olufemi Atoyebi, has disclosed that he escaped death when gunmen attacked the palace of the Olubadan of Ibadan Land by hiding inside a drainage.
Mr Atoyebi and two of his colleagues had gone to the palace to cover the installation of some baales by Oba Saliu Adetunji when four gunmen in a Toyota Sienna arrived and opened fire.
Atoyebi and his ThisDay counterpart, Demola Babalola; a correspondent with Daily Trust, Jeremiah Oke, and a chieftain of the Labour Party, Sharafadeen Alli, who was a former Secretary to the Oyo State Government, were among the people who escaped death while the shooting lasted.
Writing about his experience in a Facebook post, the University of Ibadan graduate said, “We were so close to it, face to face with them. We had to hide inside a drainage channel in front of the palace.”
He also thanked “those who called earlier to ask after my health.”
The gunmen, who arrived the palace around 11:45am operated for about 10 minutes after which they sped off towards the Molete end of Popoyemoja area.
Atoyebi and his colleagues came out of the drainage drenched in the dirty, murky water of the outlet.
Alli, who is the Asaju Balogun Olubadan of Ibadan land, was in his Toyota jeep and was also arriving at the venue when a bullet hit his car’s windscreen, missing the chief’s head by a few inches.
