The Kwara State Police Command, has confirmed the killing of four persons in a clash between members of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) and cattle dealers in Ajase-Ipo, Irepodun local government area of Kwara State.
The spokesman of the State Police Command, Ajayi Okasanmi, confirmed the development in a statement made available to Journalists in Ilorin the state capital.
It was however gathered that the crisis started at Kaara market, a weekly cow market in the town with both parties engaging in shooting which later left four unidentified persons dead while many also sustained various degrees of injuries.
A source said that the clash first started between cow merchants in the market and it later escalated to the major road while the OPC members who were returning from Osun State where they attended a festival in Osogbo got involved in the clash because of the traffic gridlock on Omu-Aran-Ilorin highway.
However, the State Police Command said normalcy has been restored in the area.
Meanwhile, the immediate deployment of detachments of police men and teams of conventional police men to the scene by the Commissioner of police, Kwara State Police Command, Cp Tuesday Assayomo has prevented the further escalation and killings of more people in the affected area.
The four unidentified dead bodies have been evacuated from the scene and deposited at the the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH) mortuary and the injured taken to the hospital in Ajase-Ipo for medical treatment while police men have been stationed at the scene to prevent further break down of law and order.
