Olajide Sowore, the younger brother of Sahara Reporters editor, Omoyele, has been killed by suspected herders, according to the activist.
Omoyele Sowore stated his brother was killed on Saturday morning while traveling from Benin to Ondo by armed men suspected to be herders by witnesses.
He was a pharmacy student at the Igbinedion University, according to Sowore, who described his brother’s death as a big loss for his family and friends.
On Saturday morning, a spokesman for the Akure police did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Peoples Gazette.
The development happened as southerners pushed for a regional ban on herdsmen’s activities. Ondo became the latest state to pass laws that prohibit open grazing on Thursday, when Governor Rotimi Akeredolu signed the measure into law.
Herdsmen have been blamed for a number of deadly incidents in the state.
Funke Olakunrin, the daughter of Afenifere leader Reuben Fasoranti, was slain by suspected herdsmen along the same path as Sowore today in 2019. The police announced that they had made arrests in connection with Mrs Olakunrin’s death, although no one has been convicted as of yet.
Sowore hailed his late brother as unselfish and hardworking, and said his death would leave a vacuum in the Ondo family’s prominent position.
“You lived your life so that everyone could be alright but now assassinated by everything that’s not alright!” the publisher said.
