One person was early yesterday killed, and many others injured as Yoruba Nation agitators clashed with policemen in the Ojota area of Lagos State.
A police patrol vehicle was burnt by the protesting agitators who also destroyed some campaign vehicles of the All-Progressives Congress (APC) .
The situation became very tensed as the agitators threatened to burn down Ketu Police Station, before they were dispersed by a reinforcement of anti-riot policemen.
Trouble reportedly started when Yoruba Nation agitators stormed the Gani Fawehinmi Park to hold a rally for the actualisation of the Yoruba Nation.
An eyewitness said, “The agitators were by one side of the Gani Fawehinmi Park while policemen from RRS were on the other side.”
“When more people were joining them, the police approached them to ask for their permit, but the agitators insisted that they didn’t need any permit before they could hold any rally”
He added, “More policemen arrived and they began to shoot to disperse the agitators who by then also became violent.
“At that time, some members of the APC were moving in convoy — the agitators vandalised their vehicle and also set a police patrol vehicle ablaze.”
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The clash caused serious panic and gridlock as motorists abandoned their vehicles and scampered into different directions. Efforts to get the reaction of the Police spokesperson in charge of the state police command, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, failed.
Meanwhile, the Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Gani Adams, yesterday dismissed media reports that members of the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) were involved in the crisis that erupted in Ojota, Lagos, in the day.
One person was reportedly shot dead and many injured in the incident.
Speaking against the backdrops of the information making the rounds that members of the OPC were part of the groups that organised the rally, Adams, in a statement by his Special Assistant (SA) on Media, Kehinde Aderemi, said the Ojota rally came as a surprise, adding that none of his members were part of the crisis.
He said: “Let me clear the air on the crisis that had engulfed Ojota this morning. There were unconfirmed reports linking members of the OPC to the mayhem. I want to state it clearly that none of our members were at the scene of the incident.
“OPC is not against the liberation of Yoruba race, however, it is a fact that the struggle for the liberation of Yoruba race is an inalienable right of all Yoruba to champion self-determination. We are not part of the peaceful rally held in Ojota.
“Our position on regionalism is very clear. It is sacrosanct, because that is what we are seeking at the moment.
“Nigeria should be restructured to full regional autonomy, where each region will be at liberty to operate at their own pace.
“It is unfortunate that the report was done in bad faith to discredit our organisation. How can people be so mean to spread such sensitive information that OPC attacked the Yoruba nation agitators? Such information was wicked, mischievous, and uncalled for and could trigger crisis and cause unnecessary disaffection between the OPC and sons and daughters of Yoruba race.
“This was the fourth time that such information had been spread against the OPC, and it is very sad and unfortunate that the purveyors of such inciting information are doing it in bad faith.
“So, members of the public should not be deceived by unconfirmed reports, however, it is the sacred responsibility of the media to investigate any report before going to the press.
“Information at my disposal from the visual contents of happenings in Ojota indicated a peaceful rally that later went awry, leading to the death of one of the Yoruba nation agitators.
“It is unfortunate that such crisis could lead to such fracas that eventually claimed one life.”
