At least three people were killed
and 10 houses destroyed by armed
youths who invaded Born Photo,
Isale Osi, Idi Arere and
Popoyemoja in Ibadan South-West
Local Government Area of Oyo
State.
The youth who operated freely for
about two hours before policemen
arrived at the scenes, also burnt or
vandalised about 200 shops,
several vehicles and a tricycle.
Eyewitnesses said the thugs partly
burnt a petrol station at
Popoyemoja junction.
Our correspondent gathered that
the mayhem started at 9am at
Born Photo before it spread to
Isale Osi, Idi Arere and
Popoyemoja.
Residents linked the violence to
last Friday’s attack in which a
policeman was shot dead at a rally
by the All Progressives Congress.
One of them said, “Youths hired by
politicians released several shots
at Born Photo junction. This is a
fall-out of Friday’s violence at the
APC rally. This may not be over
soon because there could be
reprisal. Government must
intervene quickly.”
Mr. Okunola Asimiyu, whose family
house on SW9/263 was burnt on
Sunday, wondered why his house
was a target.
He said, “I am not a politician. My
father built this house many
decades ago. The fight in Oke-Ado
three days ago may have led to
today’s (Sunday) attack on our
community. I have no friends
among the politicians. I was in the
building when the thugs set it on
fire . I tried to put off the fire but
when I realised that it was
spreading, I had to escape.”
About five shops in the house were
vandalised.
Folake Oladipo, who operated one
of the shops, said she lost over
N1m.
She added, “I received a call this
(Sunday) morning that my shop
was burning. I rushed there but I
saw people with guns shooting
and burning houses. They burnt
my refrigerators, generators and
looted everything in the shop. I am
devastated.”
Also destroyed in the building was
a football viewing centre. Its
operator, Adepoju Owolabi, said
football fans were lucky to have
escaped.
At Popoyemoja junction, a BP
petrol station was vandalised and
partly burnt. Policemen at the
scene said calamity would have
happened if the fire had reached
the fuel dump.
However, the Caretaker Chairman
of Ibadan South-West Council
Area, Taoreed Adeleke, blamed the
opposition for the attack.
Adeleke said, “Clearly, this is the
work of the opposition. They want
to scare people during elections
and place the blame on the
government of the day. We appeal
that people should return to their
homes. People are not ready to
talk; they are scared of mentioning
the perpetrators for fear of being
attacked.
“I will also blame hoodlums or
area boys that are bent on
disrupting the peaceful
atmosphere in the state for the
attack. We heard that the people
would come up before the election
to make the state ungovernable.
“It started on Friday in Oke Ado
and its spreading now. I was
called early this (Sunday) morning
that the problem had started again
so I mobilised security men to stop
them.”
However, an Accord Party chieftain,
Lanre Ogundipe, said the fight was
between APC members.
“APC started it among rival groups
within the party on Friday. They
should not point accusing fingers
at any other political party,” he
said.
The APC Chairman in the state,
Akin Oke, in a statement after the
violence, called on the police to
investigate the attack thoroughly.
Like Adeleke, Oke blamed the
mayhem on the opposition.
His statement read in part, “All
evidences at APC disposal pointed
at a high-level gang-up by some
politicians currently at large to
embarrass government and to
destroy the three and half years of
peace in the state.
“We still insist that the persons
behind that violence were carrying
out a high-level assignment which
has to do with the 2015 elections.
The violence betrays logic. Why
would APC ‘thugs’, if the
allegation of the opposition is to
be believed, be involved in
shooting the police and not their
rival groups? Why did the
fomenters of the violence choose
the governor’s local government
and the last day of his meet-the-
people tour, as their target?”
The Police Public Relations Officer,
Oyo State Police Command, Olabisi
Ilobanefor, said the police had yet
to make any arrest.
He said the state Commissioner of
Police, Kola Sodipo, would address
the media over the spate of
attacks in the state on Monday
(today).
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