The Osun state governor, Ademola Adeleke, has imposed a 24-hour curfew after the communal clashes involving Ifon and Ilobu communities escalated on Saturday, spreading to the Erin Osun community.
Many of those displaced were observed on the streets of Okinni on Saturday, with some, especially northerners, coming out of the area in buses.
A statement by the spokesperson to Osun Governor Olawale Rasheed, intimating measures to prevent further escalation, reads, “Governor Ademola Adeleke has stepped up conflict de-escalation moves on the Ifon-Ilobu conflict, imposing a 24-hour curfew, mobilising a joint security task force and hosting a peace deal between the two warring communities.
“We assure the people of Ilobu and Ifon that I am committed to securing their lives and properties. I have updated the state’s presidency of development. We are on top of the situation.
“Meanwhile, we seek to bring to the attention of the public that opposition elements are circulating old videos of communal conflicts in some parts of Osun state to spread false pictures of insecurity in Osun state.
“While the ongoing conflict is regrettable and while all hands are on deck to stop the violence, we inform the public to take note of the activities of fake news merchants who are digging up old videos to discredit the state government. The videos being circulated of violence in other towns and villages in Osun are fake news and should be disregarded by the members of the public.”
