Crimes

Communal clash: Adeleke imposes 24-hour curfew on 2 Osun LGs

Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, has imposed a 24-hour curfew on Ifon and Ilobu in Orolu and Irepodun Local Government Areas of the state, respectively, over an ongoing communal clash in the areas.

This was contained in a statement issued by the Osun State Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Kolapo Alimi, on Friday, October 6, 2023.

The communities in the two Local Government Areas have been clashing over a parcel of land.

Alimi, who stated that the curfew was to forestall further breakdown of law and order in the two communities, quoted Governor Adeleke as directing that the 24-hour curfew on the communities should take immediate effect.

The commissioner said: “To maintain lasting peace and order, pending when the issues at hand will be amicably resolved, Governor Adeleke, in his executive capacity as the Chief Security Officer of the state, has ordered the immediate takeover of the disputed lands/areas by his administration.

“In the same vein, the governor has ordered that anyone or group of persons found or seen doing one thing or the other on the disputed lands/areas will be made to face the full wrath of the law.

“Therefore, in strict compliance with the 24-hour curfew now imposed, there will be strict restriction of both human and vehicular movements in the affected areas and communities until otherwise directed by the governor.”

He noted that the officers of the Joint Security Task Force, comprising the Nigerian Army, Police, and Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps, have been directed to be on 24-hour surveillance of the communities with a view to ensuring lasting peace.

Alimi added: “As a government, the present administration has the obligation as conferred on it by the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, to protect the lives and property of the people of Orolu and Irepodun Local Governments and by extension, Osun State.

“The present administration will not in any way be a party to compromising any action or utterances that will mortgage the peace and order currently holding sway in the state.

“While commiserating with the families of those who lost their lives in the wake of the recent crisis, the present administration is still reiterating the need for peace and order to be restored in the two concerned local governments.

“Maintaining peace and order is our collective responsibility in Osun State.”

The Star