Laide Raheem, Abeokuta
Hell was let loose on Wednesday, in Ikogbo Community in the Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area of Ogun state, when stray bullets killed two persons as suspected land grabbers struggled over gun with a policeman.
Two others who were hit by the stray bullets were also hospitalised after the incident .
Account to an eye witness, there was a dispute over land between two Ikogbo and Imose communities which led to litigation. And in an attempt to enforce a court judgement on the disputed land between the two communities in favour of Ikogbo led to the bloody crisis .
The source added that the Onikogbo of Ikogbo, Oba Nurudeen Osoja had invited some policemen to enforce the judgement and allegedly sealed houses on the disputed land.
The source further informed that the resistance of the residents forced the policemen to start shooting sporadically while one of the bullets hit one Mathew, an Okada rider, injured school children and passers-by, while one of victims later died.
Reacting to the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer in Ogun State, Abimbola Oyeyemi, said the police were invited to rescue the situation.
Oyeyemi also confirmed that two persons died as a result of stray bullets while some suspected land grabbers were struggling over the gun with a police inspector.
He explained that the suspected land grabbers, who he also described as cultists, invaded the police station in the area and vandalised it.
Oyeyemi said attackers met a policeman and attempted to snatch a gun from him, but, in the process they the touched the trigger and the bullets hit four persons.
The PPRO disclosed that the command had received a petition from Onikogbo on September 20, alleging threat to his life, malicious damage, armed robbery and cultism against certain individuals in the community.
“The petition was referred to the State CID for handling. A team of detectives dispatched to the community on on investigation, arrested four of the suspects identified by the Oba himself.
“Following the arrest, some youths suspected to be cultists led by one ‘Fiasco’, mobilised and attacked the policemen and police station at about 3:30p.m, shooting indiscriminately as witnessed by the Oba himself and corroborated by the police team.
“They vandalized the station and ‘Fiasco’ himself snatched and took away one AK 47 without magazine from one Inspector at the station after much struggle.
“A patrol van donated by the Oba who built and donated the station to the community was also vandalized.
“Four members of the community sustained gunshot wounds. Two later died in the hospital, while the remaining two are in stable condition receiving treatment”. Oyeyemi stated.
The PPRO, however, said normalcy had been restored to the communities, adding that more police patrol teams had been deployed to beef up security in the community.
He also said four suspects have been arrested in connection with the violence.