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| Nigerian police. File photo |
The Kwara State Police Command on Tuesday said it had arrested seven suspects in connection with the crisis between Odo-Owa and Kajola communities in Oke-Ero Local Government Area of Kwara State.
The Spokesperson for the command, Ajayi Okasanmi, confirmed the arrest of the suspects in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Tuesday.
Okasanmi also confirmed that one person was killed and several persons injured during the crisis.
NAN gathered that violence erupted between the communities on Sunday following disagreements during a masquerade festival in the area.
NAN also gathered that the two-week long annual masquerade festival began on March 31.
He said that the situation had been put under control with the dispatch of mobile policemen from Offa and Omu-Aran to the affected communities.
Okasanmi said that investigation to unravel the remote cause of the crisis had already commenced.
According to him, the State Commissioner of Police, Mr Kayode Egbetokun, has directed that anybody found culpable in the crisis should be arrested and prosecuted.
Also, speaking to NAN on the crisis, a traditional ruler, the Olota of Odo-Owa, Oba Joshua Adimula, described the development as barbaric and unwarranted.
โThe Olota-in-Council immediately swung into action to ensure that the situation did not escalate.
โI personally made contacts with both the local and state governments. We are very grateful to them, especially the governor, for the timely response,โ he said.
The traditional ruler was worried that tension still hung in the air.
โI am urging the government to include the military to support the police,โ he said.
Adimula advised the people of the affected communities, especially the youth to embrace peace and shun acts capable of causing crisis.
โNo development can take place in an atmosphere of acrimony and no investor will invest in a crisis-ridden environment.
โI am pleading with the aggrieved parties to sheath their swords and give due respect to our forefathers who laid the foundation upon which we are enjoying today,โ he said.
NAN reports that men of the Mobile Police Unit and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps were seen patrolling the communities on Tuesday to forestall the escalation of the crisis.
