At least four people were killed in a clash between cattle dealers and members of the Odua Peoples Congress (OPC) in Ajase, Irepodun Local Government of Kwara State, on Friday.
Some commercial vehicles and passengers plying the area were caught in the melee that lasted for hours.
Traders residents hurriedly closed their shops and scampered for safety as guns, machetes and other dangerous weapons were freely used during the incident.
Fulani leaders in Ilorin East, Ali and Ilesha Baruba, said they had been inundated with calls from their members over the matter.
It is unclear what actually led to the crisis but there were different accounts.
According to a source, trouble started after a cattle dealer who was crossing the road was almost hit by a bus conveying OPC members.
“On market day, the place is a very busy area and care is needed in crossing the road. But on this occasion, the Fulani trader in the market was almost hit and in anger, he attacked one of the OPC men in the vehicle. OPC members in the vehicle then descended on him.”
“But his colleagues moved in and the OPC members reinforced by informing several others in different vehicles. The pandemonium led to killing, maiming and destruction of vehicles with several motorcycles.
“There were close to 10 dead bodies and others chased themselves into the bush, we don’t know about their fate now,” a resident who simply identified himself as Al-Hassan, said.
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Another resident who didn’t want his name published told Daily Trust that the traders and some cow sellers had a misunderstanding in the market.
“But it spread to the major road. The OPC members who were coming from Osun festival in Osogbo got to Ajase-Ipo and ran into the traffic jam. Some of them got down from their vehicle and rushed towards the market area. It was in that process that we started hearing the sound of gun. Machetes and other dangerous objects were also used during the clash,” the resident said.
In a statement, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Ajayi Okasanmi, confirmed the incident but put the casualty at four.
He added that crisis broke out after a cow destroyed the side mirror of a vehicle conveying OPC members.
“OPC members in a convoy of about twenty vehicles believed to be coming from Osun Osogbo festival, Osun state, were passing through the Kara market where a cow being led across the road by its handler broke the side mirror of one of the OPC vehicles.
“This resulted in an argument that eventually escalated into an exchange of gunfire by both the OPC members and the cow dealers in the market. Four lifeless bodies of unidentified persons were recovered at the scene,” he said.
The Police spokesman said the four unidentified corpse have been evacuated from the scene and deposited at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH) mortuary while those injured have been taken to a hospital in Ajase-Ipo for medical treatment.
He said normalcy had been restored while policemen have been deployed in the area to prevent further break down of law and order.
When contacted Saturday morning, National President of OPC, Alhaji Maroof Olarewaju, said it was the Gani Adams faction of the OPC that was involved in the matter.
Five children trapped inside abandoned car in Minna die
Five children have reportedly died of suffocation in an abandoned vehicle in the Albishiri area of Minna, Niger State.
The children were said to have gone missing on Sunday morning before they were found dead at 6pm on the same day.
One of the children was said to be a child of the owner of the car while another one was the child of a neighbour.
The remaining three were siblings, belonging to one Abdullahi Etsu of Etsu-tasha, from the Albishiri area.
Spokesman for the police command in Niger, Wasiu Abiodun, confirmed the incident in a statement on Monday.
He said the children were between the ages of five and 13.
Abiodun said the children were found trapped in a Honda Civic vehicle in the area.
He stated, “On 21/4/2024 at about 6.30pm, based on information received at Kpakungu Div, five children of about 5-13 years of age were found trapped in a Honda Civic vehicle with Reg No. GO 778 ABC at Albishiri area of Minna,” the statement reads.
“They were found to have suffocated in the vehicle, while their bodies were later removed by the various Parents, as Police visited the scene.
“However, the owner of the vehicle was invited for questioning, as the unfortunate incident is under investigation.”
FG summons Abuja Chinese supermarket owner to tribunal over discrimination
Director of Surveillance and Investigation at the FCCPC, Boladale Adeyinka, disclosed this on Monday after sealing off the outlet.
She affirmed that the owner of the supermarket, Cindy Liu Bei, had fled before the arrival of the agency’s officials.
The FCCPC officials stormed the supermarket on Monday, April 22, 2024, barely 24 hours after the discriminatory practices of the outlet were reported on social media by Nigerians.
Four vandalised towers disrupt power supply to Gombe, Yola, Jalingo
The TCN General Manager, Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah, disclosed this on Monday in a statement shared on the company’s official X handle, along with pictures of the vandalised towers.
According to the statement, the TCN noted that when the 330kV transmission line tripped, its operators attempted to restore it to service but it tripped again, prompting the dispatch of TCN lines men to trace the line to detect and rectify the fault.
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It said, “While fault tracing, TCN’s engineering crew discovered that towers 288, 289, 290, and 291 were vandalised and that some tower members were carted away. Also, the towers had equally collapsed as a result of the incident. Presently, bulk power supply to Gombe, Yola, and Jalingo substations have been disrupted, affecting bulk power supply to parts of Yola and Jos Electricity Distribution Companies’ franchise areas.’’
The TCN however stated that it was trying to first backfeed Gombe through its 132kV transmission line from Bauchi and subsequently Ashaka, Potiskum, Damaturu, and Billiri/Savannah, to mitigate the effect of the incident on electricity consumers affected by the incident.
The company assured that it would do everything to ensure restoration of electricity to the affected areas, while efforts were made to reconstruct the four vandalised towers.
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