At least two persons were reportedly shot dead on Monday in Ire Ekiti, Oye Local Government Area of Ekiti State, as crisis rocked the town over stoppage of Ogun Onire Festival by the State Government.
The deceased were said to have been shot by policemen while a vehicle belonging to the town’s monarch, Oba Victor Bobade, was also set ablaze by some irate youths.
Governor Kayode Fayemi, had, in response to the spread of coronavirus in the state, stopped all traditional festivals. In an attempt to enforce the directive, the Onire of Ire Ekiti, Oba Victor Bobade, had told the Ogun adherents to shelve this year’s celebration, an announcement which escalated into mayhem.
The crisis, which had polarised the town into two factions, started on Sunday and snowballed into a full scale war on Monday, causing attacks between the rival factions and prompted the Police Commissioner, Tunde Mobayo, to swiftly drafted policemen to the beleaguered town.
It was gathered that the victims were allegedly hit by stray bullets fired as police attempted to douse the tension.
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Sunday Abutu, confirmed that two persons were killed.
Abutu said, “Yes, there has been crisis there since Sunday and we have been trying to quell it. Some group of youths came to the palace and attack the palace, destroyed things and burnt some vehicles that belonged to the king. We got a distress call and had to mobilize policemen there and we were able to rescue the chiefs from the palace. We are still monitoring the situation.
“On my desk here, I have two persons. Their bodies have been deposited in the morgue.
”We have been able to arrest one of the gang leaders and he is in our custody right now.”