Ondo community ruffled as Ilaje youths clash with Hausa residents

By Boye Oyeyemi

Igbokoda, the headquarters of Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State, was thrown into chaos on Wednesday following a clash between local youths and members of the Hausa community in the town.

The confrontation, which reportedly lasted for hours, created panic among residents, although no casualties were recorded.

Calm was, however, restored after the intervention of the Special Adviser to Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa on Hausa Matters (South), Alhaji Isa Umaru, alongside security operatives deployed to the area.

Accounts of the crisis differed, as some residents alleged that a large number of Hausa settlers, mostly commercial motorcyclists, had taken over an abandoned three-storey building in the Government Reserved Area of the town.

The development reportedly unsettled the community, prompting youths to confront the occupants and attempt to eject them from the building over claims of unlawful occupation.

During the confrontation, dangerous weapons, including locally fabricated guns and knives, were said to have been recovered from the premises, further escalating tension in the area.

The Chairman of Ilaje Local Government, Maurice Oripenaiye, confirmed that the occupants were largely Okada riders who had been using the building as shelter and allegedly causing damage to traders’ property in a nearby market.

He explained that complaints from market women triggered the dispute, which degenerated into a clash between the two groups and briefly disrupted commercial activities in the town.