Panic As Gunmen Invade Ekiti LG Secretariat

[Esther ogunseemi]

Gunmen on Tuesday stormed the Ilejemeje Local Government Area Secretariat in Ẹda-Oniyọ, Ekiti State, causing panic and chaos among workers.

The attackers disrupted normal activities and forced employees to flee the premises for safety.

This happened days after armed Yoruba Nation agitators invaded the Oyo State Government Secretariat.

The hoodlums, who were said to have come from the Obbo-Ayegunle community in the neighbouring Kwara State, violently stormed the secretariat, firing several gunshots, making workers run in different directions and in the ensuing pandemonium, one of them got injured.

The hoodlums were said to have vandalized the secretariat building and other property of the council.

Though the cause of the attack is still sketchy as at the time of filing this report, it was reliably gathered that the two communities have been embroiled in crisis for some time over land disputes.

During the attack, which lasted for several hours, it was gathered that one person was said to have sustained serious injury and was rushed to the State Specialist Hospital in Iye-Ekiti for urgent medical attention.

The Eleda of Eda Oniyo community, Oba Awodipo Awolola, while speaking on the attack, explained that the hoodlums had in few days attacked some residents of the community with charm in their farmlands.

He said the development resulted in panic and tension in the community.

The traditional ruler who lamented the absence of police posts in the area, said there is a need for security outfits to mobilize more officers to the community to prevent further breakdown of law and orders.

Similarly, the Chairman of Ilejemaje Local Government, Mr Alaba Dada, said the suspected hoodlums were from the Obbo-Ayegunle community in Kwara State.

He attributed the attack to the lingering land dispute between the two communities, and explained that security agents had been mobilized to the town to prevent reprisal attacks.

Dada added that there is a need for the Ekiti and kwara governments to meet to settle the land dispute in the interest of peace and harmonious relationship.