The gunmen stormed the community at midnight, killing, maiming and eventually setting fire to houses, including the palace of the farming town’ s monarch and a gas station.
The act of violence came barely a week after the state Amotekun Corps chairman, Ajibola Togun, raised the alarm that some herdsmen were planning to unleash terror in the six southwestern states.
The community is home to Sunday Igboho, a separatist agitator seeking Yoruba secession from Nigeria. Mr. Igboho recently held a rally in the community that turned violent. He denied being to blame for the mayhem, in which many people were killed and property destroyed.
Governor Seyi Makinde confirmed the attack on Twitter on Sunday morning. He described the attack as shocking and urged residents to remain calm as security operatives have been deployed to the community to restore order.
Tunji Omolewu, a former Igangan councilor, told Vanguard that he counted more 20 dead bodies.
” ” I got the call at about 11pm. We were coming from Ekiti, where we had gone to a Yoruba nation rally. I got to Ibadan at about 12 midnight and as the calls did not stop, I decided to return home. I counted more than 20 dead bodies, ” he told the Lagos daily. ” The palace of our monarch was burnt down. Adolak’ s petrol station was also burnt. “
A local resident said the attackers arrived with 20 motorcycles around 11: 00 pm and began stabbing and shooting residents.
Another local resident, Yemi Akinlabi, said, ” It is very sad. Only a few days ago, our people received an intelligence report and forwarded it to the relevant agencies for action, but here we are today. Will we continue to live in fear in our country?
” I have spoken to General Toogun about last night’ s incident and we want him and his team to take action. Our people must not be allowed to resort to self- help. “
A spokesman for the Ibadan police did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the attack.
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