Ladoja’s family house, many others, vehicles destroyed in Ibadan violence osundefender.org/?p=196089 THE city of Ibadan again witnessed violence on Sunday, as two communities were attacked, leaving many people injured and property worth millions of naira destroyed. Many cars were destroyed and houses burnt, including the family house of former governor of Oyo State, Senator Rashidi Ladoja. Trouble started in the early hours of Sunday, when some area boys from Born Photo area of Ibadan stormed Popoyemoja community, unleashing terror on residents of the area. According to a resident of Popoyemoja, Biliaminu Lawal, “those boys arrived at about some minutes past 1.00 a.m. They were shooting sporadically and forcing their way into people’s houses, robbing them of their valuables. “They destroyed all cars parked on the street in an operation which lasted over three hours. We called on the police, but when they got here, those area boys succeeded in chasing them away. If you look round, you will see blood on the ground. Many of the residents have been hospitalised,” he said. At about 9.00 a.m. on Sunday, an attack was carried out on Born Photo area, where houses, motorcycles and some shops were set ablaze in what could be described as a reprisal attack, but some of the area boys at Popoyemoja, while speaking with the Nigerian Tribune said they were not responsible for the attack. “It was those boys from Born Photo area, who carried out the attack, in order to label us bad boys. None of us was involved in the attack,” one of the area boys, who preffered anonymity said. Also, while speaking with the Nigerian Tribune, an area boy at Born Photo area said: “We did not carry out any attack, it was stage-managed by those boys from Popoyemoja. We are known to be peaceful; we do not involve in any form of violence. So the allegations are baseless,” he said. A resident of Popoyemoja, Alhaji Azeez Arigbabuwo, told the Nigerian Tribune that: “These area boys are giving us sleepless nights in this area. I think it is high time government did something about them, most especially as the 2015 general election is drawing nearer. As you can see for yourself, my car has been damaged. I just bought it and I have not even registered it. So, the government should please, do something to save us from these bad boys,” he submitted. Another resident, Sulaimon Badmus, while narrating his ordeal said: “They beat me with the side of a cutlass from my sleep. They made away with my phone, shoes and money.” An old woman, Mrs Adijat Adegboyega of Sw2/523, Asuni area, told the Nigerian Tribune that: “They forced their way into my room at about 2.00 a.m, all I was doing was begging them not to use the cutlass they were holding on me. Eventually, they collected my small phone and the rechargable lantern I just bought.” Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune at Born Photo area of Ibadan, on Sunday, chairman, Ibadan South-West Local Governemnent Area of the state, Mr Taoreed Adeleke said: “I got a call this morning that there was trouble at Popoyemoja and Born Photo area. I quickly put a call through to the police and they got here on time.“According to our investigation, it was a fight between two area boys groups. But it is quite unfortunate that this has caused serious damage to residents of the two areas. I must tell you that this is beyond a fight between area boys, it has the hands of politicians in it. “I mean the involvement of the opposition in the state cannot be ruled out in this matter. You remember the incident which occurred on Friday, where a police officer was killed? I want to believe this is a continuation and I want to state here categorically that what they are after is to label Oyo State a trouble zone.” He further stated: “They are doing this because the present administration in the state has succeeded in restoring peace to the state. So, they want to do everything possible to let people have the perception that Oyo State is not a peaceful state as claimed by the governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi,” he said. When contacted over the matter, Oyo State Police Public Relations Officer, Olabisi Ilobanafor, said: “The police will address the press on the matter today.” Meanwhile, as of the time the Nigerian Tribune was leaving the scene of the incident, there was a heavy presence of security personnel around the areas. In a related development, the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State has called for a public inquiry into the violence that engulfed Ibadan in the last few days, where a policeman was killed, many injured and property worth millions of naira were lost. According to a statement signed by the party’s Director of Publicity, Wale Sadare, the party spoke against the backdrop of an earlier statement from which it accused opposition parties in the state of masterminding the violence, in order to invalidate the goverment’s claim to having brought peace and security in the state in the last three and a half years. “We still insist that the persons behind the violence were carrying out a high-level assignment which has to do with the 2015 elections. The PDP found it odd that for three and half years of the governance of the party, no single act of thuggery or violence ever took place in the state, only for this ochestrated violence to take place at the twilight of the party’s first term in office,” the statement held. In another development, residents of Adejile street, Oke-Ado, Ibadan, have protested what they described as illegal arrest carried out on the street by the police after the violence which erupted around the area last Friday. The residents, who stormed the Tribune office at Imalefalafia, on Sunday, lamented the way and manner the police carried out arrest in the area on Friday. Speaking on behalf of the residents, chairman, Landlords’ Association, Alhaji Dauda, said: “What happened was that we sighted a man in a mobile police uniform, who ran past the street on Friday. Shortly after that, men from the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) stormed the street and started picking youths in the area. Infact, one of those arrested was one Kehinde Ajayi, who is sick and was receiving treatment at home.” One of the residents, an aged woman, Victoria Adegbesan, told the Nigerian Tribune that his son was among those who were arrested. “The government should please, help me, as I do not have money to bail him.” A shop owner on the street, Taiwo Adeeko, said three of his apprentice were arrested. Another resident, Sakirat Ogunmowo, said: “My son is a painter and he was arrested while carrying out his duties in his shop.” The residents, however, unanimously appealed to the state government to please, come to their aid by ensuring the release of those arrested, as they were not in anyway involved in the violence.
Posted on: Mon, 24 Nov 2014 07:24:39 +0000
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