Ife Crisis: Hausa Community Recount Losses, As More Police Stations Turns IDP Camp
The Hausa Community in Ile- Ife said on Thursday that they have recorded more than 50 casualties from the bloody crisis that occurred yesterday calming that 18 people were already confirmed dead while others are on Hospital bed at Wesley Guild Hospital, Ilesa.
Secretary of Hausa community in Ile-Ife, Malam Magaji Nasir said the angry mob set ablaze more than 20 houses belonging to Hausa’s and charted away valuable properties and blamed police late intervention for the escalation of the crisis.
Nasir said this while featuring on a live radio programme on Rave FM, ( Frank Talk )
According to him, the crisis was a result of a long standing acrimony between the Yoruba’s and Hausa’s in the area adding that economic interests of the two tribes in Sabo area often generate conflicts.
He said ” I was born and brought up in Ile- Ife, but whenever there is minor disagreement, they will be threatening to chase us away from Ife, when the crisis occurred yesterday, we hurriedly approached the police and they promised to restore normalcy but there intervention was late which allowed the free for all.”
“They were using AK 47 to attack us and before the arrival of the police, they have majority of our properties and killed some of our people, they were burning people in the broad day light and police could not help the situation until the issue degenerated”
He said they evacuated some of their injured people who were hospitalized at Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital (OAUTCH) to Wesley Guild in Ilesa for the fear of further attack.
Nasir however admitted that some houses belonging to Yoruba in Sabo area were also razed.
Meanwhile, the Moore Police Station, has been turned to an emergency Internally Displaced Camp (IDP) for the people who were ousted from their various houses in Sabo Ile- Ife.
Deputy Commissioner of Police who is in charge of the police detachment detailed to Ile Ife said this while responding to question from journalists.
He said the police is doing its best to enforce the curfew imposed by the state government by the state government adding that normalcy is gradually returning to Ile – Ife
