Criminals May Be Using Ife/Modakeke Feud To Commit Crime – Police

The Osun State Police Command has alerted the general public that some criminals might be using the fading feud between Ile-Ife and Modakeke to perpetrate crime.

The police spoke following the killing of some farmers around Toro, Aba Panu, and Wanisani villages belonging to Ile-Ife. 

Speaking with OSUN DEFENDER on Tuesday, the Public Relations Officer of the Command, Mrs Yemisi Opalola, said the police have arrested one person in connection with the crime.

Opalola noted that the suspect could not be identified as either an indigene of Ile-ife or Modakeke, saying those behind the attack may be from other towns. 

She said: “The police have arrested one person in connection with the crime but the suspect cannot be confirmed as either an indigene of Ife or Modakeke.

“But the police are working round the clock to arrest the perpetrators. However, those people may be outsiders who want to use the opportunity of the feud between Ife and Modakeke to commit crime.

“The CP has said those behind the crime would be declared as criminals. They are trying to turn the back of the two towns against each other. They know when the killings continue; the two towns will start accusing one another.”

• Group Condemns Killing

Meanwhile, A non-aligned group, Ifeland Peace and Development Movement, has condemned the ‘tragic deaths of the farmers’.

The group, in a statement signed by its Convener, Chief Soji Awogbade, on Wednesday, urged law enforcement agencies to locate the offenders and prosecute them in order to address recurrent criminality in the community.

It noted that the Ife Development Board and Modakeke Progressive Union should persist in denouncing criminal activities and promote harmony.

The group said, “The Ifeland Peace and Development Movement, a voluntary non-aligned group of professionals, businessmen, and women who are indigenes of Ile-Ife and Modakeke, has condemned the recent killing of farmers last week in Ifeland villages around Toro, Aba Panu, and Wanisani villages by criminals pretending to be representing community interests.

“IPDM totally condemned these acts of criminality and called on law enforcement agencies to flesh out the criminals and bring them to book.”