Two Killed As Cultists, Hemp Sellers Clash In Osogbo

Two person have been killed on Friday when some youths suspected to be members of a cult group clashed with a group of hemp sellers in Osogbo, the State Capital of Osun.

According to an eyewitness, crises started at Ode Oga Junction in Oke Baale Area, Osogbo when some suspected cultist abducted a man simply identified as Kokoro, said to be selling Indian hemp.

Kokoro was said to have renounced cultism, a decision that displeased members of his erstwhile group.

Members of the group were said to have launched a search for Kokoro after he renounced his membership, but could not get him, until Friday when they saw him on a motorcycle.

“Members of his erstwhile group saw him (Kokoro) on okada at Ode Oga, they abducted him. When news of his abduction reached his own group that usually stays around Ita Akogun, Osogbo, they mobilised and stormed where he was being held.

“The two groups engaged in a serious fight. There was an exchange of gunshots. Police also intervened. But two people lost their lives. The fight later spread to Isale Aro, Gbaemu area of Osogbo where two passersby were hit by bullets. They were injured and taken to hospital,” a resident of Ode Oga, who pleaded anonymity said.

When contacted, the spokesperson of Osun Police Command, Yemisi Opalola, confirmed that two persons lost their lives during the incident, adding that the hoodlums involved also exchange gunshots with the police.

“They even attacked operatives. Normalcy has returned to the affected areas,” Opalola said.