3 feared killed as violence erupts in Ife

Three persons were reportedly killed in Ile Ife during a fight between supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party and the All Progressives Congress.

Our correspondent gathered on Sunday that one person was killed in the fight, which erupted in the town on Saturday night after the collation of election results.

The fight, which reportedly raged through the night, was said to have continued on Sunday with gun booming in some areas in the town before security personnel could restore peace to the troubled areas.

A resident of the town, Adewale Idowu, told our correspondent that the hoodlums, loyal to the two parties, clashed in Gbodo, Ayetoro and Ita Akogun.

He stated that some unspecified number of persons were injured during the fight, which also left some houses and vehicles vandalised.

Idowu said, “I saw a corpse on the road after the fight had subsided. Everybody ran inside to avoid being caught in the cross fire. I hope the number of casualties is not more than that.”

Another resident, who pleaded not to be named, said that two persons were killed in Gbodo, adding that the two victims in the area were siblings but he could not give their identities.

An 80-year-old member of the PDP,  Pa Taiwo Ogundele, was killed in the Gbodo area during the continuous voter registration, which held in the state in 2014.

 The octogenarian was said to have been dragged out of his house at around 10.30pm at  night and his attackers killed him and dumped his body on a tomb at the back of his house.

Commissioner of Police in charge of election in Osun State, Mr. Valentine Ntomchukwu, could not be reached on his telephone as calls put across to him indicated he had either switched off the phone or out of coverage area.

Public Relations Officer of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps in the state, Mr. Babawale Afolabi, when contacted, confirmed that one person was killed on Saturday night.