Many residents have been displaced and houses burnt following the renewed communal crisis between Ifon-Osun and Ilobu communities in Osun State.
SaharaReporters on Saturday obtained videos showing the arson and wanton destruction of properties in what residents believed the government should have shown more urgent security attention.
Witnesses told SaharaReporters that the communal crisis between Ifon-Osun and Ilobu, which is now eight times in 18 months, has claimed “no fewer than 30 lives with many houses, shops and vehicles burnt into ashes.”
A former councillor from Ifon Orolu in Osun State identified simply as Azeez was reportedly killed as the boundary disputes involving Ifon and Ilobu communities resurged.
It was not immediately clear how the deceased met his death.
But a resident of Ifon, who spoke on condition anonymity for fear of attack, said Azeez was confirmed dead at the Osun State University Teaching Hospital, Osogbo, early on Friday.
Also, during the bloody clashes involving the communities, several houses were reportedly razed.
The All Progressives Congress in Osun State has meanwhile slammed Governor Ademola Adeleke over his alleged ineffective handling of the crisis, while calling on the President Bola Tinubu-led Nigerian government to wade in.
The APC Director of Media and Information, Mogaji Kola Olabisi, in a release said the “deep-seated incapability of the Osun State Governor is manifesting again with the resurgence of the communal crisis between Ifon-Osun and Ilobu.”
He said, “The crisis between Ifon-Osun and Ilobu has become a recurrent decimal as all the efforts of the Adeleke administration to nip it in the bud has proved abortive as there has not been desired political will by the ruling government to solve the problem.
“We commiserate with the relations of the victims of the needless crisis who have lost their beloved ones due to the fact that the man at the helm of affairs in the state has not got what it takes to attract peace and good governance.
“It is on record that Iddo-Osun, Egbedi, Esa-Oke and other communities in the state have recently got their own share of the carnages induced by the inability of Governor Adeleke to give good leadership.
“We are not unaware of the fact that it has been pretty difficult for the embattled Governor Adeleke to install peace in the affected communities because some of the promoters and leg soldiers of the crises are members and chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
“How would criminals on rampage fear the government when the chief executive of the state has over the period proven he is a lover and an enabler of crime with his close association with the known and notorious criminals in the state?”
The APC continued, “As at last count, the notorious criminal, Olamilekan Emir Ajagungbade, facing charges of murder, terrorism and armed robbery, is an appointee of Governor Adeleke. So also, Nurudeen Alawonle, who was recently arrested with serviced police pistol. Kazeem Oriade, Senior Special Assistant ( Security Matters) to Governor Adeleke is also a gun-wielding troubler of peace, who some days ago was accused of leading hoodlums to unleash mayhem on the people of Egebedi over land dispute with Ede, the hometown of the governor.
“If Governor Adeleke does not enjoy the unrest, massacre and wanton destruction of property going on in Ifon, Ilobu and other parts of the state, he would not continue to tolerate crooks, gunmen and terrorists around him.
“Is Governor Adeleke privy to the ongoing butchery in Ifon-Osun and Ilobu or he is just a victim of crass and palpable incompetence?
“Is he committed to peace in the affected areas or he is just overwhelmed? If he is truly innocent, then it is time for him to seek external help so the wanton killings of the innocent citizens and properties would stop.
“We call on the Federal Government and President Bola Tinubu to, as a matter of urgency, come to the aid of the people of the feuding communities by instructing the statutory security services to take control as the state governor has demonstrated sheer lack of capacity to protect and secure the lives and property of the citizens of Osun State.”
Meanwhile, the Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, in a release by his spokesperson, Mallam Olawale Rasheed, said he had directed immediate security operations to restore peace between Ifon and Ilobu communities, urging the peace committee to revive the peace deal.
