File photo.
By James Ogunnaike
ABEOKUTA— Pandemonium broke out on Wednesday in Ikogbo community, Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area of Ogun State, when stray bullets killed two persons as suspected land-grabbers fought policemen over a gun.
Two others, who sustained gunshot injuries were hospitalised after the incident.
An eyewitness told Vanguard that there was a land dispute between two communities in the areas— Ikogbo and Imose.
It was gathered that attempts to enforce a court judgement on the disputed land between the two communities in favour of Ikogbo led to a crisis.
According to the source, the Onikogbo of Ikogbo, Oba Nurudeen Osoja, invited some policemen to enforce the judgement and allegedly sealed houses on the disputed land.
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The source said: “But the resistance of the residents forced the policemen to start shooting sporadically.
“A bullet hit one Matthew, an innocent Okada rider that just came back from Lusada Market and injured schoolchildren and passers-by. One of them later died.”
Reacting to the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, said the police were invited to control the situation.
Oyeyemi confirmed that two persons died from stray bullets, while some suspected land-grabbers were struggling over the gun with a police inspector.
He said the suspected land-grabbers, who he also described as cultists, invaded the police station in the area and vandalised it.
He added that they met a policeman and attempted to snatch a gun from him. In the process, they touched the trigger and the bullets hit four persons.
According to PPRO, the command received a petition from Oba Nurudeen Osoja, the Onikogbo of Ikogbo, Ado-Odo Ota on September 20, alleging threat to his life, malicious damage, armed robbery and cultism against certain individuals in the community.
