Ife crisis: Osun Assembly Wants Commission of Enquiry To Investigate

The Osun state House of Assembly has said that the state government should set up a commission of enquiry to investigate the root causes of the clash in the ancient town Ile Ife which resulted into loss of lives and properties.

In a statement by the Chairman, House Committee on Information and Strategy, Olatunbosun Oyintiloye said, members of the parliament who made the call at the plenary on Monday, said, the crisis was a  ‘very sad development’ and should be investigated to prevent the repeat of such incidences.

The Speaker, Honourable Najeem Salaam, who noted that the crisis was pathetic, said government must constitute a fact finding committee that would investigate the crisis and report its findings to the government.

According to him, the investigation should include among others, whether it was an inter-ethnic clash between Yoruba and Hausa Communities in the town, or whether hoodlums seized the misunderstanding of some individuals to drag the entire town into chaos.
He said, it was sad that issues that could be resolved by the law or traditional ruler could degenerate into such magnitude.

The Speaker then commended the state Governor, Rauf Aregbesola and the monarch, Ooni of Ife , Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi Ojaja II for their  swift response to the crisis.

In his submission, the deputy majority leader of the assembly, Dejo Osuolale, said there was the need for government to quickly set up a committee of enquiry to find out the remote causes of the crisis.

According to him, investigation into the causes of the crisis would unveil the real reason behind the crisis and proffer appropriate solutions.

Also, Oyintiloye described the incident as pathetic and scary, urging the government to bring those behind it to justice.

Oyintiloye also called on members of the assembly to raise a powerful delegation to visit the ancient town to commiserate with those who lost their love ones and properties in the crisis.

The minority leader of the assembly, Akinwale Safiriyu, called on the Federal and State Government to provide palliatives measures through its emergency agencies for those who lost their properties to the crisis.

Also, Nureni Adebisi (Ede South) urged security agencies to be more proactive in their intelligence gathering so as to forestall reoccurrence of such crisis in the future.

Noting that effective intelligence gathering would have prevented the crisis, Adebisi said, in spite the crisis, Osun still remained the most peaceful state in the country.

A minute silence was observed by the lawmakers for those who lost their lives in the crisis.