Abass Olalere, a 24-year old man, has been reportedly butchered by a yet to be identified 12-man gang in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

Investigations by PUNCH Online revealed that his assailants invaded the house, on Thursday, around 9:48pm at Labinkulu village, Moniya in the Akinyele Local Government Area of the state and butchered him to death in the presence of his wife and three months old son.

PUNCH correspondent, who visited the area, on Saturday, observed that the entire community was tensed as people were gathering in groups to discuss the unfortunate incident.

Speaking with our correspondent, the deceased’s wife, Omolayo Olalere, said, “We were together outside around 9:48pm when they suddenly invaded our house. I don’t know them and my late husband had no misunderstanding with anybody before he died. When they came in, we quickly rushed inside the house and lucked everywhere but they broke the door and destroy our windows to gain access.

“Before they gained entrance, one of my senior wives who was outside was mercilessly beaten and almost killed. When they came inside, they told my husband to cooperate with them by laying down on the table in the parlour. As he did that, they started using different weapons such as dagger, axe, knife, broken bottles, cutlasses to hit him including charms to ensure that he didn’t survive it.

“They were 12 in number and three of them covered their faces. They used mask so as not to identify them.

“After they left, we quickly rushed him to the Cureland hospital at Moniya where they later referred us to another place. But he eventually gave up the ghost yesterday (Friday). The case has been reported to the Divisional Police Station, Moniya.” She explained.

Also speaking with PUNCH correspondent, the father of the deceased, Jelili Olalere, said he was yet to understand what really happened because his son was a quiet person.

The 50-year old man said, “I was shocked because my son is a quiet person. I don’t know what could have prompted those guys to invade my house and destroyed many things before killing him. They broke my doors, windows and destroyed all our Plasma Televisions. They used charms and other dangerous weapons to hit him before they left. We have reported the matter to the police at Moniya Divisional Police Station.”

Olalere added that his corpse has been deposited at morgue in Adeoyo hospital, Ring Road, Ibadan.

As of press time, all efforts to get the state Police Public Relations Officer, Adewale Osifeso’s reactions were unsuccessful as his telephone number was not reachable.