Ifon/Ilobu Communal Clash: Osun Police Confirms Killing Of 25-yr-old, Burning Of Vehicle, House

Osun State Police Command on Tuesday confirmed the killing of a 25-year-old man, Qudus Jimoh by a yet to be identified hoodlums in Okanlawon town of Irepodun Local Government area of the state.

However, in a statement signed by the Police Public Relations Officer, Mrs Yemisi Opalola however, said an ancestral home of Okanla, situated in Ilobu was also set ablaze by the said hoodlums.

According to the Osun police spokesperson, the said house was a mud building, contrary to a report that it was a palace.

She confirmed that a vehicle parked by the house was set ablaze which led to the death of Jimoh.

According to to statement, “Osun State Police Command refutes news making the rounds that a Palace was set ablaze in Osun State.

Meanwhile, an elder brother to the deceased, Jimoh Qadri, had told the newsman that the house that was set ablaze was used by his late father, Oba Jimoh Adigun as his palace.

Qodir further explained that the perpetrators had initially stormed his personal house and met his absence before they proceeded to his father’s house, the late Oba Jimoh Adigun.”

“I was not at home, but my wife called me that gunmen numbering about 20 had stormed my house in Okanla Area very early on Sunday.

“When they could not find me around, they vandalised the building and proceeded to my family house, which my late father, Olokanla of Okanla used as his palace. It was there they saw Qudus, a son of my elder brother, who was living in Ibadan, until he recently returned home to seek university admission, after writing UTME.

However, the police said: “It was a mud house, the ancestral home of the Okanlas, situated in Ilobu town that was set on fire but extinguished immediately due to quick response of Policemen from the Divisional Police Headquarters in Ilobu.

“However, a vehicle parked by the house was set ablaze which led to the death of a Twenty-Five (25years) old man, by name Qudus Jimoh. His death is presently under investigation at the SCID, Osogbo.

“The CP therefore, enjoins the good people of the State to disregard the news of a burnt Palace either in Ifon or Ilobu and obey the necessary security measures that have been put in place by the State Government in the affected areas to forestall any breakdown of law and order.

Meanwhile, Governor Ademola Adeleke had imposed curfew on Ifon and Ilobu communities in Orolu and Irepodun local government respectively restricting human and vehicular movement between 8pm to 6am.

The two communities are laying claim of ownership on the land Nigerian Army is working on to site it project.