Traditional ruler escapes death as hoodlums raze palace

Osun State Commissioner of Police, Mrs. Dorothy Gimba

The Oloba of Oba Oke, Oba Dahunsi Iyiola, narrowly escaped death when youths of Oba Ile invaded his palace and razed it down during renewed hostilities between the two communities.

Our correspondent gathered on Monday that youths of the two neighbouring communities at Olorunda Local Government Area of Osun State engaged each other in a bloody fight on Sunday evening.

Two persons were reportedly injured while some other houses were burnt alongside the palace of the monarch of Oba Oke. Those who sustained injuries were said to be receiving treatment in a hospital at Osogbo, the state capital.

Some policemen deployed to quell the uprising were also said to have narrowly escaped being killed as some of the hoodlums opened fire on the police van which brought them to the troubled zone. However, the warring parties were eventually overpowered and normalcy was restored in the area.

Sources in Oba Oke told our correspondent on the telephone that violence broke out when the people of Oba Ile moved to a parcel of disputed land in Oba Oke after celebrating Oro festival, a move that was said to have triggered the fight.

Some residents of Oba Ile, however, claimed that the people of Oba Oke were the aggressors in the crisis which led to a breakdown of law and order.

They said the monarch of Oba-Ile, Oba Adebisi Adeeyo, and the people of the town were celebrating their Oro festival but youths from  Oba Oke started the crisis by preventing them from going on with their celebration.

It was gathered that the warring youths from the two communities freely used axes, machetes and guns which forced many to stay indoors.

The two communities are said to have turned the clash between them into an annual ritual.

The Commissioner of Police in the state, Mrs. Dorothy Gimba, confirmed the incident in a statement by the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Mrs. Folasade Odoro.

The CP stated that the situation had been brought under control by men of the command, who stopped the crisis from degenerating into a total breakdown of law and order.

The statement read, “We received information from Oba police post that some men were fighting with dangerous weapons; that they had moved to the Oloba Oke palace and set the palace ablaze.

“No person was injured. The Oloba of Oba-Oke, Oba Dahunsi Iyiola, whose palace was razed  down before police arrival, was rescued from the scene unhurt.

“It happened that Oloba of Oba-Ile, Adebisi Adeeyo, was celebrating Oro festival and some youths prevented others from passing across their boundary.”

PUNCH