Posted by From EMMANUEL ADEYEMI, Lokoja on
About 20 people are feared dead and 120 houses set ablaze in a riot which broke-out in Okene, Kogi State on Monday.
About 20 people are feared dead and 120 houses set ablaze in a riot which broke-out in Okene, Kogi State on Monday.
The mayhem was reportedly ignited by the Action Congress (AC) supporters over the move by the newly appointed caretaker chairman of the Okene Local Government, Mr Yahaya Abubakar a.k.a Karaku, to assume office.
Abubakar is the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chairmanship candidate for the council area, believed to be AC's stronghold. The AC perceived his appointment as an imposition and thus violently resisted the move, precipitating fierce fighting between the supporters of the two parties, in which guns and other dangerous weapons were freely used.
Daily Sun, which visited the town, witnessed sporadic shootings within the metropolis.
Riot policemen were quickly deployed to quell the disturbance, but they could not overpower the combats until after about three hours' battle. The rioters were said to have attacked police barracks within the town.
The PDP supporters were said to have regrouped and launched a counter-attack, leading to more killings and destruction of property.
Although as the time of filing this report, the accurate figure of the causality was yet to be ascertained, eyewitness account said no fewer than 20 people were killed in the mayhem, with over 120 houses set ablaze.
A press briefing arranged by the Ohinoyi of Ebiraland, Dr. Ado Ibrahim, over the issue was hurriedly put off due to the tense atmosphere in the town.
Last Friday, Kogi State House of Assembly unanimously passed a resolution calling on the Federal Government to deploy soldiers to Ebiraland, which has been engulfed in serious clannish and political crisis since last year.