A clash between some Fulani traders and Bororo cow sellers as well as some members of Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) on Friday night have claimed four persons in Kwara State.
The scuffle, which was said to have started between some Fulani traders and Bororo cow sellers in the popular weekly Kaara Market in Ajase-Ipo, Irepodun local government area of the state later turned bloody.
It was gathered that machetes and other dangerous objects were also used during the clash.
Commercial vehicles plying the highway were also attacked by the combatants, it was further gathered.
A source said: “I learnt that the Fulani traders and the Bororo who brought cows to the market for sale had little misunderstanding in the market but it spread to the major road.
“I was also informed that a Fulani herder was driving his cattle to cross the road and this precipitated the gridlock on the road.
“The OPC members who were coming from Osun festival in Osogbo got to Ajase-Ipo and ran into the traffic jam. Some of them got down from their vehicle and rushed towards the market area along the main road. It was in that process that we started hearing the sound of gun.”
Kwara Police spokesperson Ajayi Okasanmi confirmed the incident.
He said: “Four lifeless bodies of unidentified persons were recovered at the scene.”
Okasanmi added: “Information received by Ajase-Ipo Divisional Police headquarters was to the effect that some OPC members in a convoy of about 20 vehicles believed to have been coming from Oshogbo, Osun state, were passing through the Kara market where a cow being led across the road by its handlers broke the side mirror of one of the OPC vehicles.
“This resulted in an argument that eventually escalated into an exchange of gun fire by both the OPC members and the cow dealers in the market.
“The immediate deployment of detachments of police men and teams of conventional police men to the scene by the command prevented the escalation and killings of more people.”
The police spokesperson said that the “four unidentified dead bodies have been evacuated from the scene and deposited at the University of Ilorin (UITH) mortuary,the injured taken to the hospital in Ajase-Ipo for medical attention”.
He added that “Ajase Ipo-Offa road is now clear for movement of goods and services.“The command urges law-abiding citizens in the area and commuters to go about their lawful businesses without any fear of attack or harassment.” (Nation)