Kwara State government penultimate Thursday announced nighttime curfew in Offa and Erin-Ile towns following the resurgence of inter-communal violence.
The latest crisis involving the two neighbouring towns was a product of disagreement over the location of a planned new motor park.
It involved members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) in the two towns.
Sources told Global Excellence that signs had begun
to emerge on Tuesday that trouble was brewing as messages were passed across to those who own shops at the sawmill located in the outskirts of Offa who are mainly Offa indigenes to remove planks and equipment from the sawmill. They had lost millions of naira during one of the previous crises.
Commercial drivers in Offa had reportedly announced decision to locate the new motor park in a place near the Unity Road which will make it almost adjacent to that of Erin-Ile.
While stakeholders in the two towns had shown commitment to peace and made peace building efforts through football competitions and others, some who are overzealous among the commercial drivers went haywire and tensions rose.
Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq has immediately announced nighttime curfew in the two towns to restore peace and security. His Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Rafiu Ajakaye said on Thursday that the curfew will be in force between 6pm and 8 am until further notice.
‘This follows the renewed hostilities between some groups of persons from the two communities on Thursday.
The curfew takes immediate effect from 6p.m. Thursday March 4, 2021. Security agencies have been deployed to enforce the curfew.
While security forces on ground are to maintain the peace, military reinforcements from Sobi Barracks and the Mobile Police force from Ilorin have been deployed immediately.
All residents are hereby directed to withdraw from the streets of Offa and Erin-Ile and all contested areas immediately. Residents are to stay indoors until the curfew is reviewed.
The governor urges residents of both communities and travellers crisscrossing the areas to comply with this directive to save lives and property’, he said.
Olofa of Offa, Oba Mufutau Gbadamosi has also urged calm. Offa is a peace-loving community and I am an advocate of peaceful coexistence irrespective of religion, ethnicity or social status. This, I have displayed in my handling of Farmer/Herders crisis in Offa and environs. I condemn this act of violence and I call on Erin-Ile community leaders to also quench this ember of feud from their end as well’, he said in a statement by his Principal Private Secretary, Olayinka Kadri.
The Offa monarch also urged indigenes and residents of the town to comply with the curfew announced by the Kwara State Government
