The police in Oyo State have arrested 46 suspects in connection with a violent clash unleashed on Oke-Ado in Ibadan, the state capital, by two factions of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC).
Newsmen gathered that many residents of Oke-Ado and its environs ran for dear life yesterday morning as the groups were locked in a fierce battle, using guns, charms and other weapons. One person was said to have died during the clash.
Although the fracas was said to be between a faction known as New Era of OPC and the another purportedly loyal to leader of the group, Gani Adams, one of the sources in Oke-Ado stated that the clash was caused by two gangs of hoodlums that had been terrorising the Oke-Ado and environs.
Oyo State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Adekunle Ajisebutu, told Daily Sun that the police have instituted an investigation into the crisis, saying the cause of the crisis and the groups that masterminded it would be unravelled by the investigation.
He added that the Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr. Abiodun Odude, visited the scene on Monday and has directed the Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (CIID) to investigate the incident, assuring residents of adequate security.
Odude was said to have visited the community with more than 40 policemen that combed the areas where the incident took place and arrested the hoodlums in their hideouts in Oke-Ado.
Ajisebutu said: “Forty-six suspects have been arrested. Normalcy has since been restored following prompt deployment of policemen to the scene. The CP, Abiodun Odude, personally visited the scene, where he assured residents of adequate protection. He has directed that the CIID should commence discreet investigation into the incident.”
Odude said during the visit to the scene of the incident that his men were poised for a showdown with hoodlums, stressing that those that had been arrested would be arraigned in court soon.
The two groups reportedly engaged in a battle forsupremacy, which led to looting of some shops in the area and destruction of property worth millions of naira. The clash was said to have started on Saturday.
A source told newsmen that there were different angles to the perennial crisis along the Oke-Ado axis, adding: “But this particular one was purely between two factional OPC groups, New Era faction and a faction loyal to Otunba Gani Adams. At the weekend, a state chairman living around Oke-Ado went to a party and accused a member of the other faction of not paying homage to him.”
