Osun Govt Sets Up 16-Member Committee To Resolve Ifon/Ilobu Communal Clashes

-As Warring Communities Agree To Surrender Arms Within 24-Hour

In response to the ongoing communal clashes between Ifon and Ilobu communities,the Osun State Government has taken decisive steps to address the escalating situation.

The representatives of the communities made some resolutions at the meeting aimed at bringing the communal crisis between Ifon and Ilobu communities to an end.

A statement issued on Thursday by Kolapo Alimi, Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment disclosed that the resolutions endorsed and approved by all stakeholders are “that any person or group of persons in possession of firearms and ammunition should surrender such ammunition within 24 hours from today, 1st February, 2024 to the nearest police or security formations;

“That the police authority in the state has been mandated to invite for interrogation, all those who made themselves available as chiefs or custodians of the disputed areas;

“A 16 man Resolution committee has been established by the Osun state government to sit and work out an amicable way(s) of settling the entire issues at stake;

“That the Committee is to submit its findings in two weeks time, with the 15th of February, 2024 given as the deadline.”

The security committee set up by the state government, however, maintained that the 6pm to 6am curfew earlier imposed stands and that all security personnel comprising the Nigerian Army, Nigeria Police, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps are to remain where they are stationed to ensure lasting peace in the warring communities.

The stakeholders also resolved that anybody found with arms and ammunition in the area after the deadline should be arrested and prosecuted.

They said anyone or group of persons found or caught still instigating any further violence, to mortgage lasting peace being envisioned in the affected communities would be made to face the full wrath of the law.