9 Injured, As Youths Battle Each Over Boundary Dispute In Osun

At least nine (9) people were said to have sustained various degrees of injuries when indigenes of Asipa and Ipetumodu communities in Ife-North Local Government Area of Osun State engaged themselves in a supremacy battle Friday evening over a boundary dispute.

An eyewitness who spoke under condition of anonymity stated that the fight broke out between students during a sport competition at a school in Ipetumodu. The fight however took an ugly turn when indigenes of the communities took laws into their hands to settle an old boundary dispute.

The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Mrs. Folashade Odoro, said the situation had been brought under control.

She debunked the rumour that a policeman was killed in the clash. Odoro said, “We have brought the situation under control. We are at the market now and traders are there. It is not true that a policeman was killed.”

Meanwhile, the government of the State of Osun has clarified that no fresh crisis started in Ile-Ife on Friday.

Several news outlets had on Friday evening claimed that 9 people were injured in a skirmish that broke out in the ancient town of Ile-Ife.

Speaking to newsmen yesterday evening in Osogbo, Mr Tope Adejumo, the Special Adviser on Security to Governor Rauf Aregbesola, stated that there was no fresh crisis in Ile-Ife as everyone is going about their normal businesses.

He warned those publishing false news in the hope of whipping up ethnic sentiments and violence to desist forthwith.

Mr. Adejumo however noted that some young people in the Asipa and Ipetumodu area of Ife North Local Government had earlier on Friday afternoon engaged each other in a free fall over some boundary dispute.

He noted that it was not an inter-ethnic clash and neither was it a crisis. The security aide described it as a case of ‘breach of public peace’ and explained that the dispute was being resolved.

He noted that normalcy has since returned to both towns and law enforcement agencies have been deployed to the area to maintain peace and order.