Residents of Oke-Ako Ekiti were thrown into mourning on Saturday as some gunmen attacked and killed a prince of the town, Dare Ogunbiyi, in his hotel.

Olainukan Hotel located on Irele-Ekiti Road, Oke Ako is owned by the deceased.

The deceased is the son of the late king of the town, Oba Omotayo Ogunbiyi.

An eyewitness, who gave his name as Dayo, said the two gunmen caught the victim unawares while he was discussing with an unnamed staff within the hotel premises.

9News Nigeria learnt that Dare on sighting the gunmen took to his heels but was unlucky to escape.

“The two men were wearing masks. On sighting them, he tried to run away but the assailants pursued him and opened fire on him.

“The bullet caught him in the belly and he fell down in the process. He died from loss of blood while the assailants disappeared from the scene into the bush”‎, the source said.

Another eyewitness account ‎said “after killing Dare in his hotel, the assailants disappeared into the bush. They neither came in a vehicle nor rode bikes”.

When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer in Ekiti, Alberto Adeyemi, said he had been informed of the attack but was awaiting briefing from the Divisional Police Officer.

It will be recalled that on May 20, 2016, assailants suspected to be herdsmen killed one Lekan Arosanyin and Olomi Ibiteye in an attack carried out on the sleeping town around 8pm.

The attack took place at a drinking joint owned by the deceased mother.