Many, Policeman Killed As Cultists, OPC Clash in Ijebu North

No fewer than six persons, including a policeman, were feared dead, while others were injured when a fight broke out between a cult group and members of the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) in Ijebu-Igbo, Ijebu North Local Government Area of Ogun State last Sunday evening.

It was gathered that the heavy fight which began at about 5:30 p.m. on that evening at Okesopen road spilled into Oke-Agbo and Ojowo areas, with gunshot being heard intermittently throughout the night, escalated till the early hours of Monday. It was suspected to be a fallout of a mega rally organised by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Senator representing Ogun East senatorial district, Buruji Kashamu, who was on a ‘thank you’ tour of the Ijebu North Local Government Area.

Among those killed, it was learnt, included two unknown suspected cultists, an OPC member simply identified as 16 Saheed and a policeman who was one of the two policemen shot yesterday morning.

A score of other victim, it was learnt, sustained varying degrees of injuries and property worth millions of naira destroyed, as a result of the bloody clash where dangerous weapons such as guns, cutlasses and axes were used despite the heavy presence of armed policemen and operatives of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) that were deployed to beef up security at the occasion.

While four persons were said to have been shot dead and several others wounded during the clash, two additional persons got killed in a pre-dawn reprisal launched by one of the feuding cult groups.

There was pandemonium in the ancient town as residents and visitors scampered for safety in palpable fear of being caught up in the cross-fire.

Among those killed, it was further learnt that three persons, believed to be  members of the same family, were killed in front of their father's house in Ojowo, while another was killed near the Amazing Graze Petroleum Station and two others were shot dead at Odobalogun, all in Ijebu-Igbo town.

To forestall further spillover, it was learnt that a detachment of soldiers, Operatives of the Federal Special Anti - Robbery Squad  (F-SARS), anti-cult unit of the Ogun State Police Command, anti - riot policemen and conventional armed policemen had been deployed in the volatile town since Sunday evening to restore order normalcy.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Abimbola Oyeyemi, who confirmed the cult clash, said the Commander of Ijebu Police Area Command, the Divisional Police Officers (DPOs) in police formations in Ijebuland, operatives of the Federal Special Anti - Robbery Squad (F-SARS) among others have all been deployed in the troubled area to restore order.

Abimbola, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), added that the men had enforced normalcy, and advised residents not to panic while assuring them of their safety, and that the perpetrators of the violence would soon be arrested.