By Enyichukwu Enemanna
At least one person has been reported dead following a clash between officers of the Nigerian police and agitators who seek the creation of Yoruba nation in Ojota area of Lagos State, the country’s commercial capital.
Separatist voices have been on the increase in Nigeria’s multi-ethnic environment, arising from allegations bordering on marginalisation in power and sharing of the country’s resources.
The Yoruba Nation agitators were said to have gathered for a rally in the area without obtaining a permit from the police.
The police however deployed a heavy presence of its personnel in the area in apparent effort to forestall break down of law and order.
A stray bullet from the police operatives reportedly hit one of the agitators, leaving him lifeless on the spot.
The aggrieved agitators, who outnumbered the policemen initially on ground, however set a police patrol vehicle on fire.
Reinforcement was later sought, with more policemen, including those of the Rapid Response Squad, joining the battle against the agitators for Yoruba Nation.
One of the leaders of the Yoruba Nation agitators in the area, Sautin Igboho, called the attention of the leader of the group, Sunday Igboho who has been in dentition in Benin Republic for close to two years and the Leader of Ilana Omo Odua Worldwide, Prof. Banji Akintoye, to the development, warning that they would burn the police station in the area.
Sautin Igboho who chanted in the native Yoruba language said two of his members were killed by stray bullets.
“There is war in Yorubaland o. Our people have been killed. There’s be trouble in Yoruba land. Our people have been killed.”
In the South Eastern part of Nigeria, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has also been agitating for separation from Nigeria over marginalisation. The leader of the group, Nnamdi Kanu is currently answering for terrorism-related charges and has been detained in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) in Abuja since 2021.
