A man who was declared missing after violence linked to the protracted boundary dispute between Oyo and Osun states has been found buried in a shallow grave nearly two years after he was allegedly killed.
The discovery followed the arrest of a suspected gunman, Rabiu Yusuf, by operatives of the Oyo State Police Command over a fresh shooting incident in the troubled border community. Police said the suspect’s confession led investigators to the burial site of the victim.
The victim, identified simply as Segun, was allegedly shot dead in 2024 during renewed communal violence around Iyana-Offa, Iyanagbo and Oke-Oba Parapo, communities along the Oyo-Osun boundary near Iwo.
The Oyo State Police Command said the victim’s body was secretly buried in a shallow grave, frustrating months of efforts by security agencies and family members to locate him.
Police also arrested another suspect accused of supplying the ammunition allegedly used in the killing, while three other suspects remain at large.
The command said the investigation was revived after Yusuf was arrested over another shooting linked to a fresh communal clash in the area.
During interrogation by detectives from the command’s Monitoring Unit, the suspect allegedly admitted participating in Segun’s killing and led investigators to the location where the body had been buried.
Police said Segun was shot by Yusuf and three other suspects before his body was concealed in a shallow grave.
The command recalled that security agencies, including the Commissioner of Police and the Oyo State Deputy Governor, had previously visited the community and conducted extensive searches for the missing man without success.
Following the suspect’s confession, police obtained a court order to exhume the remains, which were later deposited in a mortuary. The victim’s family subsequently identified the body as that of their missing relative.
The police also confirmed the arrest of another suspect accused of supplying the ammunition allegedly used in the attack.
Yusuf admitted shooting the deceased but claimed he acted after repeated attacks arising from the lingering communal conflict. He alleged that residents of Iyana-Offa had repeatedly attacked his community at Oke-Oba Parapo and that he retaliated after surviving an earlier shooting.
The killing has been linked to the long-running boundary dispute between communities in Oyo and Osun states, where disagreements over land ownership have repeatedly resulted in violent clashes, destruction of property and loss of lives.
Police said investigations are continuing to arrest the three remaining suspects and establish the full circumstances surrounding the killing.
(Premium Times)
