Daredevil gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen, on Friday, killed Mrs Funke Olakunrin, daughter of the leader of the Pan Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, Chief Reuben Fasoranti, during an attack on travellers on the Benin-Ore-Lagos Expressway.
She was said to be travelling to Ondo town from Lagos to commiserate with one of her relatives when the ugly incident happened.
Olakunrin, the 58-year-old daughter of the 94-year-old Yoruba leader, Fasoranti, along with others ran into the barricade of the suspected Fulani herdsmen said to have been terrorising motorists on the expressway.
Sources disclosed to Tribune Online that the assailants who tried to stop the vehicles opened fire on its occupants as the drivers of the vehicles tried to manoeuvre their way out of the barricade.
Meanwhile Olakunrin who was hit by bullets from sporadic shootings died shortly after, the source said other occupants of the vehicles were seriously injured while one was abducted during the attack.
The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) Mr Femi Joseph, said three vehicles including a commercial bus belonging to Young Shall Grow Transport Limited, a Toyota Land Cruiser Jeep, with Registration Number LAGOS, AAA 147 FM and a Toyota Camry were involved in the incident.
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Joseph, confirming the death of the daughter of the Afenifere leader, Olakunrin, said, three vehicles were attacked at Kajola on Ore-Benin Expressway by the hoodlums Friday afternoon.
The PPRO, who described the incident as unfortunate, said the late Olakunrin who was in the Toyota Land Cruiser Jeep was shot and died before getting to the hospital.
Joseph, however, said the command could not confirm if the attacker were Fulani herdsmen or armed robbers.
However, he also confirmed that one of the victims, Gerald Igbuoyikha, was kidnapped by the gunmen, while seven others rescued by the police have been taken into custody.
He said there was a shootout between the suspected gunmen and the police who tried to rescue the victims along the expressway notorious for kidnapping.
He said: “Three vehicles were ambushed by gunmen at Kajola on Benin-Ore Expressway around 2:00 pm.
“One woman named Funmi Olakunrin was shot but died before our men could get her to the hospital. The woman was travelling in a Toyota Jeep.
“One man in a another Toyota Camry Car was abducted by the gunmen. Our men have rescued seven men travelling in the commercial bus belonging to Young Shall Grow Motors Limited.
“We have begun search for the man that was abducted and to get the hoodlums.
Also, Afenifere confirming the death of the daughter of its leader in a statement issued by its Publicity Secretary, Yinka Odumakin, said: “We have confirmed the death of Mrs Funke Olakunrin, 58, daughter of our leader, Chief Fasoranti.
“Eyewitness accounts said she died of gunshot from Fulani herdsmen who shot her at Ore junction in Ondo State earlier today.
She was coming from Akure, when armed Fulani herdsmen came from the bush to attack her and other vehicles.
“Her domestic staff in the car with her sustained gunshots too. This is one death too many and a clear we-can-take-it-no-more death.
Afenifere was formed as a socio-cultural organization for the Yoruba people of Nigeria, with Chief Abraham Adesanya as its leader and Chief Bola Ige as deputy leader.
Other founding members were Pa Onasanya, Chief Reuben Fasoranti, Adegbonmire, Okurounmu Femi, Ganiyu Dawodu, Olanihun Ajayi, Olu Falae, Adebayo Adefarati, Alhaji Adeyemo and Ayo Adebanjo.
When the Alliance for Democracy political party was formed in 1998, it took the Afenifere agenda as its official manifesto.
