Kwara boils as Offa, Erinle renew bloody chalsh
...Unconfirmed number of casualties recorded
Wole Adedeji, Ilorin
Unconfirmed number of casualties were recorded between Offa and Erinle, on Thursday, in a renewed bloody clash between the two communities of Kwara State.
Also, two buildings were said to have been torched as at the time of filing this report.
However, in a swift reaction, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq quickly imposed curfew on the two communities between 6:00p.m. to 8:00a.m. to douse the tension.
It was gathered that the problem might was occasioned the decision of the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), in Offa, that wanted to commence construction of its office on the buffer zone demarcated by the state government, on Wednesday.
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The decision was however said to have been resisted by their Erinle counterparts which led to the bloody clash.
Efforts of the Police Area Command stationed in Offa and other security agencies for the purpose of quelling possible fight between the communities were said not to be enough to stop the wanton killing and destruction.
Late in the afternoon, on Thursaday exchanges of gunshots by residents of the warring communities were heard from a distance while thick smokes engulfed the war zone before the state government announced the curfew.
The two rival communities had for decades been at war with themselves over boundary disputes and it had always been bloody. Lives and properties worth millions of naira had each time been lost to the fight.
The administrations of both former governors Bukola Saraki and Abdulfatah Ahmed in the State had intervened by creating buffer zones in between the border areas of the two communities to stave off future clashes
Meanwhile, the state government has ordered immediate deployment of police, soldiers, and officers of Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) to the troubled areas at the press time on Thursday.
Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Rafiu Ajakaye, in statement, on Thursday, said the curfew would be in force in Offa and Erinle until further notice.
“This follows the renewed hostilities between some groups of persons from the two communities on Thursday.”, Ajakaiye said in his statement.
“The curfew takes immediate effect from 6p.m. today Thursday March 4, 2021. Security agencies have been deployed to enforce the curfew. While security forces on ground are to maintain the peace, military reinforcements from Sobi Barracks and the Mobile Police force from Ilorin have been deployed immediately.
“All residents are hereby directed to withdraw from the streets of Offa and Erinle and all contested areas immediately. Residents are to stay indoors until the curfew is reviewed.
“The governor urges residents of both communities and travellers crisscrossing the areas to comply with this directive to save lives and property and appealed to leaders on both sides to restrain and caution their people against provocative actions”, he added.
