Trouble broke out during the annual new yam festival of the Ibule-Soro community in the Ifedore Local Government Area of Ondo State.
The ceremony was disrupted by sporadic gunshots. The crisis was said to have been sparked off by the dispute between the supporters and opposition of the town’s monarch, Oba Oluleke Ogunlade, whose selection process is being challenged in court.
The king had fixed the new yam festival on August 25 to coincide with the first anniversary of his coronation. However, this did not go down well with some of the indigenes who believed there was a particular date for the celebration which cannot be changed
Trouble started when indigenes opposed to the monarch decided to hold the festival on Friday which they claimed was the actual date the tradition of the town stipulates.
Indigenes of the community had set out early in the morning for the celebration before a detachment of policemen and military personnel arrived and dispersed them.
A resident who pleaded anonymity disclosed that policemen stormed the community and started shooting sporadically and firing tear gas at everyone in sight.
He said: “They even fired tear gas into various houses where we have aged people. They broke into several houses and arrested people”.
According to him, several indigenes of the town have been arrested and taken to the police station at Igbara-Oke, the headquarters of the LGA.
However, the Public Relations Officer, Ondo State Police Command, Funmilayo Odunlami-Omisanya, said the situation has been brought under control,
She said that the police were drafted to the community to maintain law and order and not to take sides with anyone in the crisis.
