Unknown Gunmen Invade Igangan Community, Kills 11 people
Unknown Gunmen Invade Igangan Community, Kills 11 people on Saturday the 5th of June, 2021 in the late hours of the night.
Eleven people as well as some of the assailants have been killed with houses and vehicles burnt during an attack within Igangan community in the Ibarapa Area of Oyo State.
Wale Osifeso, the police command spokesman, said the assailants attacked the area yesterday night with guns and other dangerous weapons but the police force, hunters, and vigilantes were able to fight back the criminal elements.
“On 5th June 2021 at about 2310hrs (22:10 GMT), suspected armed bandits… invaded Igangan Community in the dead of the night,” Osifeso said in a statement.
“In the process, eleven persons including some of the assailants were confirmed dead,” he added.
Furthermore, Osifeso stated that the situation is being closely monitored and a comprehensive investigation currently ongoing to ensure that the suspects are caught and taken into custody.
As a result of the attack, a number of buildings including a traditional ruler’s palace and vehicles were also burned down.
Police said it deployed units on patrol “to forestall further disintegration of law and order in the area.”
This attack is happened just a few days after Governor Seyi Makinde visited the area and held a town hall meeting with the community.
Ibarapa has been under the spotlight recently due to frequent clashes erupting at different times between farmers and herders which has led to many deaths and injuries.
Ethnic tensions are popular in Nigeria where over 250 ethnic and linguistic groups live side by side.
It was also reported that clashes occured in nearby Ibadan, the Oyo state capital, back in February, between a group of Yorubas who claim to dominate the region and traders from the Hausa community, who mainly hail from Nigeria’s north.
In recent times, the southern states in Nigeria have seen a surge in intercommunity tensions over northern Fulani herders who move south for grazing cattle, which often leads to conflict with local farmers.
Rhetorically, some southern officials blame the northern Fulani for the drastic increase in crime and kidnappings in their regions which has led to more tensions.
President Muhammadu Buhari had initially warned against using ethnicity to gain political advantage, but some regional leaders accuse him being partial in his decision because he is an ethnic Fulani.
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