No fewer than five persons were feared killed when members of the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) and rival gangs clashed in Ibadan, Oyo State, on Friday.
Two unidentified bodies were found around the Premier Hotel axis of Mokola hill road, while three members of the OPC were also confirmed dead.
An eyewitness said the two men whose bodies were found around Mokola hill were shot dead by men of the OPC late Thursday night.
The source who spoke in confidence attributed the killing of the men to a crisis that happened around Inalende area of Ibadan on Thursday.
It was said that no fewer than 11 youths had been killed in the clash between OPC and gangs of Inalende, Abebi and Oopo areas of Ibadan.
The clash started on Thursday.
Eyewitness accounts however differed on the number of casualties in the crisis. While some put the figure at six, others said eleven persons including seven members of the rival gangs and four OPC men died in the clash.
It was gathered that the clash had started since Wednesday when the youths from Inalende killed two people in Oopo with the support of the youths from Abebi.
Two people were also allegedly killed on Wednesday in the Iwo-road area during a clash between shop owners and members of the Park Management System (PMS).
A source in the area who gave the nicknames of the first two victims as Transformer and Ishaja, disclosed that the two were killed on Thursday while casualties increased to eleven when members of OPC came out to support one of the rival gangs in the fight that lasted till Friday morning.
The sources explained that the clash which started as the usual confrontation between the youths in the affected areas got out of hand when OPC members supported one of the gangs.
It was gathered that the warring youths, who are still in the area had vowed to retaliate the killing of their members despite the heavy presence of the security agencies in the communities.
Describing the killings as a reprisal, a source said: “I am confirming it. I don’t want you to mention my name. The two boys were down on Thursday while another four were killed overnight but as of this afternoon, the deaths have increased to eleven.
“Police and Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) are here to maintain peace but those guys are still threatening to retaliate. I wish the police can still reinforce our area to ensure more lives are not lost.”
Contacted, the Oyo State Coordinator of OPC, Comrade Rotimi Olumo confirmed the death of three of his men with one presently in coma at an undisclosed hospital.
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