Polytechnic student killed in Osun community clash

By Deborah Oladejo, Osogbo

A student of Westland Polytechnic, Ilobu, was killed on Thursday when armed hoodlums allegedly from Ifon-Osun attacked the Oke-Ima area of Ilobu in Osun State.

The victim, a Computer Science student, was reportedly shot during the attack, which began around 11 a.m.

In a statement jointly issued by Pastor Olufemi Salako, National President of the Ilobu-Asake Development Union, and Mr. Tairu Babatunde, Public Relations Officer, and made available to newsmen in Osogbo, it was alleged that heavily armed hoodlums invaded Ganga and Oke-Ima, shooting indiscriminately at people and property.

The killing reportedly occurred before the announcement of a curfew by Governor Ademola Adeleke.

The statement partly reads:
“The people of Ilobu hereby use this medium to report to the Osun State Government, security agencies, and the world at large that hoodlums and invaders from Ifon-Osun have today, Thursday, January 16th, killed a student from the Department of Computer Science, Westland Polytechnic, Ilobu. The attackers shot an innocent and harmless student of the Polytechnic located in the Oke-Ima area of Ilobu.

“The heavily armed hoodlums stormed Ganga and Oke-Ima on Thursday morning around 11 a.m., indiscriminately shooting at every living and non-living object in sight. The student, whose identity is yet to be confirmed, was one of their victims.

“For emphasis, Oke-Ima is less than two kilometers from the palace of the Olobu of Ilobu, and the community houses eminent personalities, including the former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Lasun Yusuff. This demonstrates that the invaders knowingly entered the inner streets of Ilobu.”

The statement called on the Osun State Government to immediately summon the Olufon of Ifon, Oba Peter Ipadeola, to account for the unprovoked attacks, killings, and destruction of property, adding that the patience of the Ilobu community had been stretched to its breaking point.

Meanwhile, the Ifon community, through the Secretary of the Ifon-Orolu Progressive Union, Prince Jide Akinyooye, denied involvement in the killing.

He said, “The killing may have been perpetrated by the Ilobu killer gang. The gang has been causing carnage throughout the day before the curfew was imposed. We don’t know anything about the killing. Our people don’t even go to that area because it is a buffer zone.”

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