Gunmen Attack Ekiti Varsity Students Over Land Dispute
Some gunmen suspected to be land grabbers have allegedly attacked
some students of the Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti, living in
satellite towns in Iworoko-Ekiti in Irepodun-Ifelodun Local Government
Area.
A yet-to-identified female was said to have been almost strangled to
death as 50 cell phones of the students were alleged to have been
snatched by the hoodlums who were bent on forcefully taking over the
land from Iworoko people.
Residents said eight armed men have been unleashing terror on the hostel facility for some days before they were apprehended by policemen on Tuesday night.
A traditional leader of Iworoko community, High Chief Bada, said the hoodlums usually attacked the communities with vehicles which plate numbers were hidden. They also destroyed some houses in the settlement.
“Students of EKSU had cried to the Iworoko police stations to complain that the hoodlums collected their cell phones and destroyed the hostel facility. What these people are doing is very wrong. The land on which the hostel facility they attacked is built, has been a subject of dispute between our community and the Irasa people who are under Ado-Ekiti.
“The government has already intervened by setting up a committee to look into the land dispute and asked our community and Irasa to vacate the place and desist from causing trouble on the land pending the time they would come up with a resolution.
“But because of the Census coming up, the people of Irasa are already sending their thugs to invade the land and forcefully take it over. We appeal to government to deal with these hoodlums who have already been rounded up by the police, ” he said.
Another Iworoko resident, Ojo Adu, attributed the alleged attack by the land speculators to the census exercise being planned by the Federal Government ahead of 2018 national population census.
“The Irasa and Ado people want to forcefully take over our land so they can have better numerical strenght against us but we own the land and we will not allow them to succeed.”
A student of the institution who craved anonymity, said “The gunmen have been attacking us in the hostel for over a week now.
They usually come in the night armed and the last time the first time they came on February 16, they took cell phones of over 50 of us the students.
Residents said eight armed men have been unleashing terror on the hostel facility for some days before they were apprehended by policemen on Tuesday night.
A traditional leader of Iworoko community, High Chief Bada, said the hoodlums usually attacked the communities with vehicles which plate numbers were hidden. They also destroyed some houses in the settlement.
“Students of EKSU had cried to the Iworoko police stations to complain that the hoodlums collected their cell phones and destroyed the hostel facility. What these people are doing is very wrong. The land on which the hostel facility they attacked is built, has been a subject of dispute between our community and the Irasa people who are under Ado-Ekiti.
“The government has already intervened by setting up a committee to look into the land dispute and asked our community and Irasa to vacate the place and desist from causing trouble on the land pending the time they would come up with a resolution.
“But because of the Census coming up, the people of Irasa are already sending their thugs to invade the land and forcefully take it over. We appeal to government to deal with these hoodlums who have already been rounded up by the police, ” he said.
Another Iworoko resident, Ojo Adu, attributed the alleged attack by the land speculators to the census exercise being planned by the Federal Government ahead of 2018 national population census.
“The Irasa and Ado people want to forcefully take over our land so they can have better numerical strenght against us but we own the land and we will not allow them to succeed.”
A student of the institution who craved anonymity, said “The gunmen have been attacking us in the hostel for over a week now.
They usually come in the night armed and the last time the first time they came on February 16, they took cell phones of over 50 of us the students.
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