Igbaye chieftaincy tussle: Osun govt deploys security personnel as carnival turns bloody

The Osun State Government has announced that peace has returned to Igbaye town, Odo-Otin Local Government and the situation is under control as security operatives have been mobilized and moved into the community.

The state government has assured that the deployment of security operatives into the town was to ensure that there was no further breakdown of law and order.

Making the information known via an announcement, the Osun State Commissioner for Information and Civic Orientation, Funke Egbemode stated that the government being a responsible and responsive one had to deploy uniformed and plain-clothed law enforcement officials on the ground to keep troublemakers in check and to restore and maintain peace.

While noting that chieftaincy tussles were not strange to traditional societies, Egbemode stressed that the state governor had in the last three years of his administration proved that there is no royal battle too intense to be resolved by peaceful negotiations.

The Commissioner stated that since the civil unrest in the town has been brought under control, the government was appealing to aggrieved parties and all indigenes of Igbaye community, to put all personal interests aside and give peace a chance in the spirit of the season and also to maintain the state’s profile as the nation’s most peaceful state.

In her words, “Parents and guardians are enjoined to warn their wards and children not to allow themselves to be used as tools to foment trouble.

“We implore residents and citizens to channel their grievances to the appropriate authorities and resist the temptation of taking the law into their own hands. It is better to talk about the issues causing controversies in the town, than to war over it.”

Earlier on Monday, December 27, a man was shot dead in a free-for-all during a carnival.

It was gathered that two warring groups who are at loggerheads over the community’s kingship attended the community event.

Trouble started when the DJ was playing a song which one of the groups considered offensive.

The DJ was forced to stop the music but the other faction objected and in the ensuing melee, gunshots raided the air, leaving a man dead.

When contacted, the spokesperson of the Nigerian Police, Osun Command, Yemisi Opalola, confirmed that there was unrest arising from a carnival celebration in the town.

She could not confirm if there was loss of life but she disclosed that the Commissioner of Police, Olawale Olokode has deployed police tactical teams in the town.

She explained that the information available to her indicated that the unrest started from a carnival celebration, adding that security operatives were on ground and the situation has been brought under control.