News report have been gathered that a police inspector, a member of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) and four others have been shot dead in the wake of the cult violence that erupted in Ijebu-Igbo, Ijebu North Local Government Area of Ogun State.
The gun battle, which started on Sunday evening at Oke-Sopen area of Ijebu-Igbo, continued till the early hours of Monday. Our reporters gathered that the crisis was caused by a political rally organised in Ijebu-Igbo by the Senator representing Ogun East in the National Assembly, Prince Buruji Kashamu.
The deadly fight that brought panic and unrest to the town has left several other persons with some degrees of injuries. However, as at press time, soldiers and armed policemen had already been deployed in the town to restore law and order.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, who confirmed the violence yesterday, said that the perpetrators would soon be fished out and brought to book. As opposed to circulating information, Oyeyemi, who stated that the Area Commander, Ijebu-Ode had been directed to move to the town, said that only three persons died in the clash.
According to him, a police inspector, one OPC member and a suspected cult member were the only people who lost their lives in the ugly incident. The police spokesman has advised residents to not panic, reassuring them that adequate security measures had been put in place to check violence.
We gathered that the violence was a result of longtime animosity between cultists and members of local security outfit in the town. We learnt also that Sunday’s violence erupted at the PDP rally when suspected cult members spotted a vigilante operative and attacked him.
The vigilance operative was said to have been fingered in the killing of a notorious cult leader in the town about three months ago. Therefore, the murder of the vigilante gave rise to further attacks and reprisals that led to gun battle through the night.
Sources stated that while four persons were shot dead during the clash on Sunday, two other persons were killed in a pre-dawn attack launched on Monday morning. Two policemen were shot in the clash, leaving one of them dead and the other seriously injured.
A resident said the cult members trailed the OPC operatives attached to Kashamu’s tour to Oke Sopen area of Ijebu-Igbo, where they engaged them in serious gun fight.
As at the time of filing this report, a detachment of soldiers, operatives of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS) and Anti-cult Unit of the Ogun State Police Command, among others, have been stationed in the town to enforce peace
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