Osun govt imposes 24-hour curfew as communal clashes worsen

PUNCH

The communal clashes involving Ifon and Ilobu communities escalated on Saturday, spreading to the Erin Osun community.

The governor, Ademola Adeleke, has subsequently imposed a 24-hour curfew on the affected communities.

Adeleke had initially imposed a 12-hour curfew in the wake of the communal clashes that had displaced many residents of Ifon, Ilobu and Erin Osun.

Many of those displaced were observed on the streets of Okinni on Saturday, with some, especially northerners, coming out of the area in buses.

A statement by the spokesperson to Osun Governor Olawale Rasheed, intimating measures to prevent further escalation, reads, “Governor Ademola Adeleke has stepped up conflict de-escalation moves on the Ifon-Ilobu conflict, imposing a 24-hour curfew, mobilising a joint security task force and hosting a peace deal between the two warring communities.