Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo is perceived as a no nonsense man. During his first term, he made the headlines for flogging a security agent with horse whip on a visit to Kogi State. Even many years after leaving office the former President is still adept at the use of the rod.

Residents of Olaogun, his village in Ifo Ibogun area of Ogun State were shocked on Tuesday when the former Nigerian President, stormed the area with a truckload of armed security operatives and allegedly physically assaulted the wife of his close relative and top confidant, Adebayo Molaja.

SaharaReporters gathered that Obasanjo personally flogged Mrs Adebayo several times with a horse whip (Koboko) for an alleged ‘theft’ of N160m.

It was not clear how the issue came about and what actually prompted the former President, who is also a retired military general, to take such action.

A resident of the area, who asked not to be named for safety reasons, however, told SaharaReporters that Obasanjo was heard shouting “Omolaja, ole! Abiodun, ole! Won loji N160m (Omolaja thief! Abiodun thief! They said you stole N160m)” during the incident.

The resident added, “Obasanjo came from his Ota farm abode at exactly 5:00am while people were still sleeping. He was accompanied by fiery-looking security men armed to the teeth who condoned the residence of the Adebayos. He immediately called out Mrs Adebayo and ordered the mobile policemen with him to form a barricade. He then proceeded with a horse whip (Koboko) to personally flog the woman several times.

“Many residents of the community were shocked. Hundreds of commercial bike riders popularly called Okada parked at the scene wondering whether there was an armed robbery incidence or any other tragic occurrence.”

Other residents of the community, who witnessed the incident and were contacted by SaharaReporters for comments all declined citing safety concerns.

Attempts to get the reaction of Kehinde Akinyemi, spokesperson for Obasanjo, was unsuccessful as his telephone line was not reachable at the time of this report. Credit: Saharareporters