The Ikire town has been embroiled in a kingship tussle, leading to court litigation of over two decades.
On Monday afternoon, the kingship tussle took a violent twist.
The men of the Nigerian Army’s attempt to disperse the irate youths and bring normalcy to the town created more tension among the residents as soldiers’ patrol van was damaged and four guns nowere reportedly seized from them.
It was gathered that trouble started when some irate youths, calling for removal of Oba Falabi stormed the palace and drove the monarch out of the palace.
The protesters were relying on the Supreme Court judgement in 2014, ruling that it was not the turn of Oba Olatunde Falabi’s ruling house to produce the Akire and also a similar judgement by the State High Court in Ikire few months ago.
The youths were protesting non-implementation of the Supreme Court judgement that had removed the monarch noting that his continued stay on the throne is illegal.
When the the situation got worse, the security men were deployed to the town to restore law and order as many residents of Sabo, Oke Ada, Monro, Sango, Popo, Obada, Oja Ale and Ita-Ikun in the town locked themselves inside their homes for fear of attack.
An indigene of the town, who preferred annonymity, gave an account of how crisis started, saying: “When the youths got there (palace), they chased the chiefs away with several placards. They are insisting Oba Falabi should go. We also learnt that the monarch has been whisked away to safety by some unidentified persons.
“There was a report of an altercation between soldiers and the youths around Mateba area where soldiers vehicle was destroyed by the irate youths. They were also said to have seized four guns from the soldiers. The Army vehicle was also vandalised. This infuriated the soldiers and called for reinfocement. There was a clash and two people were killed.
“The soliders are patrolling the town in search of their guns. The demonstration in the palace caused the tension to heighten as thugs took over the process leading to attacks everywhere.
“Currently, there is tension in the town. There are reports of more people dead. People have been advised to stay indoors while most notable areas of the town are manned by soldiers. The community also has inhabitants who are students of Osun State University whose campus is here. Everyone has been told to stay indoors. There are sounds of gunshots everywhere.
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