Assailants Kill Ex-Oyo Permanent Secretary

A 69-year-old retired permanent secretary with the Oyo State government, Ms Olaitan Gbenle, has been murdered by suspected assailants.

Gbenle was gruesomely murdered at her residence, along All Saints College Road, Idi Ishin, near NIHORT, last week.

She was allegedly strangulated after her assailants tied her hands and legs.

She was found with her hands and legs tied on Friday morning while she still had the dress she wore on Thursday on her.

The assailants were said to have taken her two vehicles, phones and Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards.

It was learnt that the killers came to the deceased’s residence a day after she reported to the police that her life was being threatened by some hoodlums who used to smoke marijuana close to her house.

She reportedly had a maid staying with her, but the maid left two months ago.

It was gathered that the deceased was supposed to host a meeting of retired permanent secretaries and heads of service on Thursday, November 16.

The deceased’s only child, a daughter, was said to be a medical doctor.

A condolence message on the WhatsApp platform of the Association of Retired Heads of Service and Permanent Secretaries of Oyo and Osun States (AREHSPSOOS), signed by its chairman, Chief Bisi Adesola, who is also a retired HOS, read: “With the greatest sore regrets, I, on behalf of the Executive Committee of the Association of Retired Heads of Service and Permanent Secretaries of Oyo and Osun States, (AREHSPSOOS), announce the untimely death of Ms Elizabeth Olaniyan Gbenle.

“She was not only a loyally committed member of the association; she served on the last executive committee demonstrably ably!

“Due to this sad event, our 16th November 2023 Quarterly meeting is hereby cancelled!

“Further details on her funeral services shall be communicated as soon as they are made available to us by the family!”

Meanwhile, detectives from Oyo State Police Command have begun investigations into the incident.