Three Students, Policeman Killed As Ondo Crisis Escalates

The peaceful protest embarked upon by
the youth of Ile-Oluji town in Ile-Oluji/
Okeigbo Local Government Area of Ondo
State on Monday turned bloody on
Tuesday, as four people, including a
policeman, were feared dead.

It was learnt that the dead and five other
injured persons were hit by bullets allegedly
fired sporadically by policemen, who were
deployed in the palace of the embattled
monarch, Oba Suulade Adedugbe, to maintain
law and order.This followed a clash between
security agents and protesters, who were calling
for the removal of the traditional ruler of the
town.
The ugly incident, forced the Commissioner of
Police in the state, Mr. Patrick Dokumor, to
relocate his office to the town for a better part of
Tuesday to take charge of the crisis.
The development paralysed social and economic
activities as business owners shut their doors,
while employees of various public and private
offices in the town suspended further
interactions with customers.
It was gathered that the youth, who were mainly
students of institutions of higher learnings and
indigenes of the town, had converged on the
palace to continue the protest they started on
Monday with the aim of forcing the monarch out
of the town.
The increased population heightened the tension
as the youth chanted war songs, warning the
monarch to rescind his alleged decision to reject
the siting of a federal polytechnic in the town.
Eyewitnesses alleged that the police, on getting
to the scene of the protest, started shooting to
scare the protesters and disperse them from the
palace.
The protesters were said to have followed the
patrol vehicles of the police back to their station,
following which the police were said to have
opened fire on them as they thought the youth
wanted to attack them.
Three students were said to have been hit by
police bullets, while one police officer was also
said to have been mistakenly killed by another
policeman, who fired into the crowd.
Two of the young men allegedly killed were
students of Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo,
while the identity of the fourth person was
unknown.
A source said, "Trouble started when the police
on patrol fired tear gas at the protesting youths
while youths also retaliated, a situation that
infuriated the police, making them to shoot
sporadically into the air.
"We also learnt that a police officer was also shot
in a reprisal attack"
Meanwhile, the state Police Public Relations
Officer, Mr.Wole Ogodo, confirmed that his boss
had gone to the town in company with other
senior police officers in the command to curtail
the situation.
He said no death was recorded during the
incident but said the police officer, who was
attacked by the mob, had been hospitalised.