Tag: ibadan

After the bloody violence that unsettled residents of Adekile, Orita Aperin in Ibadan North East Local Government Area of Oyo State earlier this month,  peace has returned to the community where a senior police officer was murdered by hoodlums. OSEHEYE OKWUOFU reports. 

Life is gradually returning to normal at Adekile, Orita Aperin area of Ibadan, the Oyo State capital where hoodlums killed a senior police officer who was trying to quell a riot on April 1, 2015. The incident led to an indiscriminate arrest of suspects by the police forcing many residents to flee the area.

Both economic and social activities were paralysed as a result as the police combed the area for the killers of the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) attached to Agugu police station, Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) Ike Nworgu.

But after the series of arrests including that of the principal suspects, the police seem to have relaxed their actions allowing the residents to resume normal life even as investigations continue.

Spokesman for the Oyo State Police Command, Mr. Adekunle Ajisebutu said until investigation into the murder case is concluded, the principal suspects would remain in custody and would not be charged to court.

It was in the evening of Wednesday April 1, 2015 when a mob attacked and shot dead the DPO on the suspicion that the police were shielding a suspected owner of kidnappers’ den.

The state Commissioner of Police, Mr Katsina Mohammed, visibly disturbed by the incident vowed to ensure that all those involved in the dastardly act would face the full wrath of the law.

According to the state police boss, the slain police officer had gone to Adekile in response to a distress call by one of the residents who alleged that her baby was kidnapped and kept inside a particular building in the area.

He said CSP Nworgu had visited the area and inspected the building in question but could not find anything related to the lodged complaint, but while he was explaining to the angry youths who had gathered to storm the building to remain calm as further investigation would be carried out, the DPO was attacked and shot in the head.

Mr Katsina further explained that Nworgu, being a gallant officer before he fell to the miscreant’s bullets, also managed to fire at his attacker who also died on the way to the hospital.

Though relative calm has returned to Adekile when The Nation visited the area, arrest of suspected culprits was still going on albeit in a subtle form to allay the fears of the residents even as there was tension in the air.

Residents have started to return to their deserted homes, while commercial activity is gradually picking up in the area. Police Checkpoints mounted on major roads leading to the area have been dismantled. Only few policemen are still keeping watch in some of the hotspots in the community ostensibly to check any breach of the peace.

Traders have opened their shops for business and life has returned to the community. However, fear of a possible raid by plain cloth security officers is still with the people.

It was gathered that random raid of some strategic areas where youth usually hide to smoke hemp and drink local gin popularly called paraga remained a regular routine by the police.

A check on one of such spots by The Nation saw some young boys running and disappearing into the thin air on sighting this reporter. Other residents also stylishly avoided this reporter as they looked the other way in fear of arrest, while some who were approached for interview still refused to grant audience.

Some concerned landlords in the area, it was learnt, had in the past raised alarm over the suspicious activities of the boys who hide under the cover of darkness to commit atrocities.

Adekile, where many jobless youths abound, is a notorious area mainly populated by the locals. It is a place densely populated by low income earners and extremely poor dwellers.

So, it is not by accident that security has become a major challenge in the community.

Even before the killing of the DPO, the people admitted that there had been regular security patrol and arrest by policemen acting on pieces of information.

When The Nation visited the scene where the DPO was attacked and shot penultimate Thursday, the suspected kidnappers’ den, which is an uncompleted building with an underground section, had been looted and razed by the mob.

Also, two structures by the side of the uncompleted building were also burnt as youths alleged that the occupants of the buildings were accomplices.

A cab operator in the area who pleaded anonymity, ýsaid:” Our business has gone down and people are not patronising us like they used to again. We are now living in fear each day, of either the hoodlums or policemen who have been arresting the residents indiscriminately since the incident broke out.

“This is a very social area where everybody goes out and comes back safely without any harm or problem until this evil incident happened.”

Also, a landlord in the area, who simply identified himself as Baba Onile ýlamented that some of his tenants have been arrested unjustly by the police during one of their several raids in the area. He appealed to the Commissioner of Police to call his officers to order.

“Most of us now live in fear of the unknown and no one could say what may happen to him or her the next day in this neighbourhood, due to the ritual den that was discovered few weeks ago.

Meanwhile, ýanother trader, who gave her name simply as Iya Alata said the mayhem escalated because some hoodlums hijacked the search of the building by residents and insisted on burning it.

“What I heard was that a little girl, who was missing for days, was seen with an old man. When people started asking questions, the owner of the house was said to have invited the police to stop the mob action.ý This issue has caused us, shop owners, more pain and harm because so many people have run away from this place,” she said.