Osun imposes curfew on Igbajo community after breakdown of law

The Osun State Government has imposed a 24-hour curfew on Igbajo community in the Boluwaduro Local Government Area of the state, following a breakdown of law and order.

The unrest, which started on Sunday night and continued into the early hours of Monday, is linked to tensions arising from the death of Prince Adegboyega Famodun, who passed away last week after a brief illness.

In a statement by the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Kolapo Alimi, Governor Ademola Adeleke on Monday  ordered an immediate lockdown of the town until normalcy is fully restored.

Adeleke condemned the violence, saying his administration “will always not be a party to any untoward civil disobedience capable of truncating the existing peace and harmony being currently experienced throughout Osun State, Igbajo inclusive.”

He warned that anyone found instigating or participating in acts capable of worsening the crisis would be made to face the law.

“Therefore, as the Chief Security Officer of Osun State, I hereby declare with immediate effect a total lockdown of the town pending the return to orderliness and harmonious coexistence in the hitherto peaceful and orderly Igbajo town,” he said.

The governor directed the Army, Police, Department of State Services and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps to commence 24-hour surveillance in the community.

“Adeleke, in line with the new directive on the 24-hour curfew, accordingly issued a stern warning to all the natives and non natives of the hitherto peaceful Igbajo community, to continue to toe the path of peace and order as anyone found or caught in any act, openly or clandestinely, that has the tendency of further plunging the town into chaos would be dealt with in line with the dictates of the law,” the statement added.