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Five people were feared dead in Ibadan, capital of Oyo State, yesterday, during the on-going Egungun festival.
They died when two groups of hoodlums clashed during the celebration.
Many people sustained varying degrees of injury during the fracas which occurred in the vicinity of Idi-Arere and Oja’ba and lasted for about 90 minutes.
Motorists, passengers and other people in the area scampered for safety during the pandemonium.
The violent clash reportedly occurred when a popular masquerade, ‘Ege,’ was moving from Born Photo and Iyana Asuni to Idi-Arere Junction. Dangerous weapons such as cutlasses, guns, swords, broken bottles, stones and charms were said to have been freely used during the mayhem. The hoodlums reportedly rose against a team of policemen detailed to maintain peace and security during the festival.
They stoned the policemen, who had to teargas them and, at the same time, shot sporadically to scare the hoodlums away. Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Mr. Olugbenga Fadeyi, said: “Reports which reached us were clear; our men who were deployed to a major axis of the city, in preparation and anticipation of the Egungun festival, by the Commissioner of Police, to forestall breakdown of law and order, were on ground (and were attacked).
“However, the Commissioner of Police will not spare anybody found to be causing violence in the state as enough measures to keep the state safe have been put in place.
