Three killed as Igbotako residents protest boy’s murder Three persons, including a 14-year-old boy, were on Saturday killed at Igbotako, Okitipupa Local Government Area of Ondo State, during a riot by youths in the town. The police station in the town was vandalised and razed by the mob who violently protested the killing of a teenager and another person by the officials of the local government Area, who were enforcing the no-movement order during the monthly environmental sanitation exercise. Correspondent gathered that trouble started in the early hours of the day when the chairman of Okitipupa Local Government Council, Shola Piri, tried to stop a market session at Igbotako, a town under his council. Eyewitnesses reported that Piri’s intervention met with a stiff resistance from the people at the market, but he was bent on ensuring that the people complied with the exercise. The council boss was said to have sent his orderly to a nearby police station to secure reinforcement, but the situation at the market degenerated into a free- for-all. It was further leant that gunshots were fired by the team led by the chairman, killing two persons, one of them a 14-year old and the only son of his parents. The death of the two persons was said to have sparked off a mob action, but the reinforcement from the police rescued the chairman and his team, who were taken away from scene. The people immediately turned their anger against the police and attacked the Igbotako police station, vandalising and torching it. A source, who spoke to correspondent, said the clashes which spread across the town also resulted in the death of three other persons with a number of other people injured. Soldiers were called in to quell the mayhem which lasted for about six hours. The Ondo State Commissioner of Police Mr Issac Eke, while confirming the development on Saturday, said he had gone to the town for assessment and the situation was under control. He noted that only two persons were confirmed dead as against the higher figures reported. The Police Public Relations Officer, Wole Ogodo, said, “It appears that it was a case of transferred aggression against the police, but a thorough investigation will reveal the remote causes of the crisis.
Posted on: Mon, 27 Oct 2014 13:32:47 +0000