Written by Wale Ojo – Lanre and Remi Oladoye
Pix :Wale Ojo -lanre with relics of the crashed plane .
Wednesday, 19 December 2012. Nigerian Tribune
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IT seems that the time for Ikogosi, a sleepy town in Ekiti-West Local Government, Ekiti State to gain international attention, prominence and respect has come. This is because of the natural attention seeking circumstances which daily spring in the town .
Apart from the fact that the town harbours the only site where cold and warm spring flow together in its natural form, the site, for many years was left desolate with little enhancement of the pristine tourism assets for economic development and empowerment until recently when Governor Kayode Fayemi rose stoutly to add value to the site.
And as the enhancement of Ikogosi Cold and Warm Spring progresses, the town just woke up to realise that it also shared international disaster precipitated by the Second World War when one of the cargo planes which were used to ferry war deadly munitions crash landed on a hill within the territorial circumferences of the town on Sunday April 12, 1942 at about 8:15 pm almost, 70 years ago!
The interesting part of the story is that, most of the indigenes are aware of the Igbo Aero plane’s story, which was relayed to them by their fathers and grand fathers, yet many do not consider it a worthwhile disaster which if properly packaged and managed would be another tourism plus to the development and progress of the town and its people until the exploration team of the Special Adviser to the Governor of the State on Tourism, Mr Segun Ologunleko which was facilitated by the Onikogosi of Ikogosi, Oba Elijah Abiodun Olorunishola last week.
The visit of the team actuated the Tribune Tourism Magazine in venturing into ‘Igbo Aero plane’ which harbours the Ilapa Hill where the Second World War military cargo plane crash landed, in Ikogosi on Wednesday 12 December, 2012.
Oba Olorunishola had to suspend his meal on learning about our mission as he quickly gave us a two-man guide (made of a retired school principal Mr. Olu Adeniji whose father and grandfather played prominent roles at preserving the story of the crashed plane and Hon Gbenga Adewale a former councillor) a youth leader in the town.
“The two people will avail you the necessary information needed on the site, Mr Adeniji knows much about the story of the crash which he must have heard from his father while Adewale too being a youth will accompany you to learn more of the story,” Oba Olorunishola pointed out.
As we left the palace of Onikogosi for Mr Adeniji’s house, Hon Adewale informed us that the site was far from the town.
“It is not accessible by road. We have to park the car and trek for about one hour 30 minutes mostly climbing the hill,” .
On receiving the Onikogosi’s message, Mr Adeniji rushed inside his house only to appear in his attire with his double barrel gun .
And as we journeyed up hill , climbing the over 675 meters Ilapa Hill, Mr Adeniji told us how it was predicted that such a disaster would occur in the town.
“My name is Olu Adeniji, an indigene of this town. I read History at the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University). I was a teacher and retired as a school principal. My father was an Ifa worshipper, and just like Yoruba adage which says “bi oni seri ko lola ma ri lo nmu Babalawo difa Ojojumo (the fact that one cannot use today’s occurrence to categorically say what will happen tomorrow necessitates the diviner to consult the oracle everyday ),
On the morning of April 5, 1942, my father, Baba Ogunkoyo, the second in command to the kabiyesi in the town woke up as usual to consult Ifa oracle. In his divination, he read that danger loomed on Ikogosi and that something which has never occurred in Ekiti would happen and that it would affect Ikogosi in particular. He informed some elders of his revelation. And as it was during the Second World War, different thoughts occupied their minds, various options were proffered. Does it mean that the war would start in Ikogosi? Or would the town be invaded by enemy or occupied by others? Or was the town going to be consumed by fire as almost all the houses then were thatched roofed?
As the guess of what could happened raged on, another traditional ruler told Ogunkoyo that rather than wasting his time ruminating on what the disaster could be, he should appease the gods and ask for the solution .
“So, Ifa instructed them that in order to aver the danger, a big dog should be fetched immediately with a rope while certain incantation should be chanted and then drag it round the town and buried far away from where the people live possibly on a hill. And the elders did just this. The process was carried out by my father.
“And seven days later, at about 8:15 pm on Sunday April 12, 1942, a heavy deafening sound was heard from the Ilapa hill accompanied by a thick wild fire and smoke .
“Looking up the hill, the people could not fathom what it could be than a wild fire erupted after the big bang on the hill.
“Has Armageddon come? Then people started running helter skelter, majority ran to the church, but when the noise did not stop, many ran out of the church again!
“It was a day pandemonium gripped the town. The people were terrified. Nobody was actually sure of what it could be. This was more because loud bang of explosives continued from the hill from 8:15 pm to 5 the following morning.
“However, the following day, the people gathered and decided to venture into Ilapa hill to see what actually happened.
“The expedition to the hill top was spearheaded by one Sergeant Adeleke, a native of Emure who resided here accompanied by some elders, hunters and the brave ones.
“It was when they got to a distance to the scene of the crash that they saw what actually happened the previous night. They could not move closer as the plane was still burning and the heat was severe.
“They descended to tell the residents of the town who gathered at the palace of what they saw.
“You see, the pilot should be commended, I think he manipulated the cargo up to the hill to prevent it from landing in the town because if eventually it fell within the town, in fact it would have been the end of Ikogosi because I assumed that the speed with which it would run within the town would have destroyed many houses and people including animals , taken into cognizance that the houses were thatched roofed
“For almost five years, nothing grew on the top of the hill . The thick forest was devastated and remained barren. This was a rich forest hitherto populated by monkeys, antelopes, baboons, water hog, buffaloes and other exotic fauna.
“After the incident, people were going there, to take bits of the relics. I remember that in 1960, I was there to pick my own share and my father picked his too.
This site was called Igbo Ilapa then and after the incident, it was changed to Igbo Aero plane, we don’t do any rituals on the hill, our hunters only go there for games and there were big animals here before the incident. This was where my father killed a buffalo in 1939.
“Since it occurred in 1942, no government ever dared to make move or show any interest about the scene until last week when Governor Fayemi dispatched his special adviser to see the scene.
“And since then, Ikogosi has not only been in the news once again, but Igbo aero plane has been receiving visitors. Between then and now, I have conducted 15 different groups on tour uphill .
“We are sure that this site will add value of immeasurable proportion to Ikogosi as Governor Fayemi has promised to turn it into a tourism site.”
Mr Adeniji used his wealth of experience as a professional teacher in narrating the incident so well that we never realised that we were walking up to over 675 metres above the sea level, burrowing through the rich vegetation and forest, having a panoramic view of the surrounding towns and villages, with insects ranting and the chirpings of the birds.
“We got to the top of the hill after a walk of about one hour, as we took off at about 1:30 pm and got to the site at 2:27.
At the central portion of the hill top where it seemed that one can actually touch the sky as it looked closer lies parts of the wreckage of the cargo plane, remnants of what could not be carried away by the people. The testimony of a disaster that could have wiped out the Ikogosi town had it been the plane crash landed in the community. We saw two big rusted engines with 13 and 13 piston holes!
After satisfying our curiosity and even looked round whether we could find some other parts, we commenced descending the hill while our guidestold us many remarkable stories about the town.
Hon Adewale also informed that the youth of the town were ready to support and make any sacrifice at ensuring that the site is turned to a tourism site as pronounced by Gov Fayemi ,” We will forever be grateful to the administration of Governor Fayemi for enhancing the Ikogosi Cold and Warm Spring and also processing Igbo aero plane as another tourism centre.”
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