A Magistrate Court of Osun State sitting in Osogbo has issued a bench warrant for the arrest of Kayode Asa and Hezekiah Ilufoye for flouting a court order over the disruption of peace in Ekosin, in Odo-Otin Local Government Area.
The bench warrant was issued by Magistrate A. Adeyeba of Court Five in Osogbo on June 17, 2025.
The suspects, who were initially arrested by men of the Nigeria Police, claimed that “the Oba position was theirs and not for the government-appointed Oba.”
Kayode Asa and Hezekiah Ilufoye, according to the charge sheet, were charged with “setting bonfires all over the town at will and severely molesting anyone who would not address them as ‘Kabiyesi’, thereby disrupting the peace of the Ekosin community, and breaching law and order.”
Their perceived opponents were also attacked across Osun State, especially in Osogbo.
The act, it was gathered, was perpetrated to slander Oba Kasali Omotayo, who was recognised by the Ademola Adeleke government as the nominated monarch for Ekosin in Odo-Otin Local Government Council, since his appointment on November 13, 2022.
It was gathered that the suspects made their intention known to become the traditional ruler of Ekosin town, but the kingmakers did not select them.
The duo of Kayode and Hezekiah were initially arrested on the orders of the outgone Osun Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Umar Abba, by the Commissioner’s Monitoring Unit on May 29, 2025.
After the arrest by the police, they were arraigned in court and granted bail but refused to appear before the court on June 17, 2025.
Magistrate A. Adeyeba subsequently issued a bench warrant to all police units in Nigeria and abroad for their rearrest.
“Anyone with useful information on their apprehension should contact the Nigeria Police, Commissioner of Police Monitoring Unit, State CID, Osogbo,” the bench warrant stated.
