One Reportedly Dead, Others Injured As Ifon, Ilobu Renew Bloody Clash

Hostilities resumed between Ifon and Ilobu towns of Osun State on Monday, as the bloody clashes that has left many dead and properties destroyed rearing its ugly head with residents of the two communities fleeing their for safety.

Osun Defender reports that Ilobu and Ifon indigenes have over the years resorted to bloody clashes over unresolved boundary issues.

The State Government in October last year imposed a 24-hour curfew on the communities after the clashes led to loss of lives and destruction of properties.

However, the curfew was lifted last December after the return of relative peace to the areas.

According to some security sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity, some people from the two communities clashed in villages on the border of Osun and Oyo States before the fight spread to the towns.

Otun Jagun of Ilobu, Chief Leke Ogunsola, while speaking on the latest incident told journalists that hoodlums from Ifon attacking Ilobu farmers in Ologele and Aganna villages, shot dead a farmer, while others were injured.

But the Secretary, Ifon Progressive Union Board of Trustees, Prince Jide Akinyooye, alleged that hoodlums from Ilobu attacked indigenes of the town and injured many of them.

A resident of Ilobu, identified simply as Oladotun, who fled the town to take refuge in Osogbo, said, “I had to leave with my family. We are currently in church in Osogbo where we will pass the night. Most people around my house in Ilobu have fled their homes too for fear of attack. The fight started in villages at Osun boundary with Oyo State.

“A village called Wale was razed down. There were also clashes around Idiroko, and Iranin villages. We learnt two persons were killed too. But many people fled their homes in both Ilobu and Ifon to avoid being caught in crossfire.

The Public Relations Officer of the Osun State Police Command, Yemisi Opalola, said personnel had been deployed to the area to prevent escalation.

She said, “We have deployed men to the communities. We are already working on the issues. I will brief you on further development.”

Speaking in a similar vein, the spokesperson for the Osun Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Kehinde Adeleke, said the command had deployed its armed squad to the area, said there were bloody clashes.