Perpetrators of attack on Oyo community must be arrested, reps tell IGP

The house of representatives has asked Usman Baba, inspector-general of police, to facilitate the arrest and prosecution of perpetrators of the attack on Igangan in Oyo state.

The resolution of the house was passed during the plenary session on Tuesday, after the adoption of a motion of “urgent public importance”, sponsored by Muraina Ajibola from Oyo, and 66 other lawmakers.

TheCable had reported how residents were killed when gunmen attacked the town last weekend

The area has been under the spotlight over the years, with clashes erupting intermittently between farmers and herders, resulting in deaths and life-changing injuries.

While moving the motion, the lawmakers said “over 50 harmless indigenes of the town” were reportedly killed during the attack, while goods worth millions of naira were razed.

The lawmakers lamented that the green chamber has “passed several resolutions urging the federal government and the relevant security agencies” to upgrade the police station in lgangan but the directive is yet to be implemented.

According to the lawmakers, “due to this last attack, residents of lgangan town and lbarapa axis of Oyo state, are relocating from the town or area in droves, which is likely to paralyse the economic and social activities of the town or area, and has indeed paralysed them”.

They added that the attack is “capable of escalating the already tensed security situation in lgangan town, Oyo state, and all the states in the south-west of Nigeria, if the assailants are not apprehended and brought to justice”.

The motion was unanimously adopted after it was put to a voice vote by Femi Gbajabiamila, speaker of the house.

The lawmakers also asked the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and other relevant agencies “to provide relief materials to assist all those whose properties or businesses were destroyed as a result of the invasion”.