Soji Ajibola, Ibadan
A 30 year old man identified as Samuel was felled by bullet while several others were severely injured during a clash between the police and aggrieved residents who were on the streets protesting acute supply of the Premium Motor Spirit otherwise known as petrol and redesigned naira notes at Apata in Ido local government area.
The protesters took over the streets in continuation of Friday protest which rockef some parts of the state capital, Ibadan on Friday.
Our correspondent gathered that protesters who were armed with placards with inscriptions such as ‘Enough is enough, We are dying of hunger etc ran into the convoy of Joint Security team at Apata
It was reported that one Samuel was shot dead while others were severely injured during the clash.
Also, some business outlets were destroyed while there was bonfire all over places.
Commercial activities were grounded for a while while free flow of traffic was distrupted during the period.
Confirming the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer, Adewale Osifeso in statement said that some hoodlums launched attack at the convoy of the Joint Security team on confidence building patrol.
‘The statement read in part, “Today Saturday, 04/02/2023 at about 1015hrs, while embarking series of confidence building patrols around different blackspots and flash points, the joint convoy patrol comprising of the Police and other agencies ran into a band of hoodlums around Apata Junction Market, Apata Area under Ido Local Government Area.
‘In a rather surprising event, the hoodlums who had perfected plans to molest residents, harass shop owners and loot shops on sighting the combined convoy of security launched a series of unprovoked attacks by firing guns, hurling stones, sharp objects and other dangerous missiles at them.
“The trained officers, cautious of the level of casualties that might be recorded should they engage at the location, resorted to restraints and professionally took charge at the scene while arresting the situation with reasonable force in line with standard operational procedure.
“However, during the rage, an individual identified to have been a member of a vigilante group and who was reported to have died in the fiasco has since been deposited at a government hospital for post-mortem.
“Meanwhile normalcy has since returned to the area with heavy deployment of patrol teams and other tactical assets visibly on ground.
So also, the Commissioner of Police has directed that the Deputy Commissioner of Police in Charge of the State Criminal Investigation Department leads the investigating team with a deadline for results as an arrest was made.
It would be recalled that a police station was set ablaze while Wema Bank located at Agodi gate area in Ibadan North East local government area was vandalized during a similar protest on Friday
