Police Restore Normalcy after Fulani/OPC Clash in Kwara

 Hammed Shittu in Ilorin

Kwara State Police Command at the weekend said it has restored normalcy at the Kara market on Ajase-Ipo/Offa road following a violent clash that left four people dead.

Already, the police command has deposited the four unidentified dead bodies at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Ilorin.

The crisis erupted last Friday  between members of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) and Fulani people in Ajase Ipo, Irepodun Local Government Area of the state.

The fight started at Kara market, a weekly cow market in the town, last Friday with both parties shooting sporadically.

The clash first started between the Bororo and Fulani settlers in the market and later spread to the major road while the OPC members who were returning from Osun festival in Osogbo got involved in the clash because of the traffic gridlock on Omu-Aran/Ilorin highway.

“During the clash, about four persons we reportedly killed while several others sustained injuries.

“Machetes and other dangerous objects were also used during the clash,” the source said.

Commercial vehicles plying the highway were also attacked by the combatants, it was further gathered.

However, a statement issued in Ilorin by the Command spokesman, Mr. Okasanmi Ajayi, said the road has been cleared of every barrier created as a result of the misunderstanding between members of

OPC and cattle dealers in Kara market.

The statement said some OPC members in a convoy of about 20 vehicles believed to have been coming from Oshogbo, Osun State, were passing through the Kara market when a cow being led across the road by its handler broke the side mirror of one of the OPC vehicles.

The statement said the issue resulted in a hot argument that eventually escalated into an exchange of gun fire by both the OPC members and the cow dealers in the market.

The statement said the timely deployment of detachments of police men to the scene prevented the escalation and killings of more people.

The statement maintained that the four unidentified dead bodies have been evacuated from the scene and deposited at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital mortuary, adding that the injured have been taken to the hospital in Ajase-Ipo for medical treatment.