By Adeola Badru 

The crisis of new naira note/fuel scarcity, took another dimension on Saturday in Ibadan, as the Police have confirmed the death of one person as result of a protest that erupted at the Apata axis of the state.

The sad development was confirmed through a statement issued by the state’s Police Public Relations Officer, SP. Adewale Osifeso, stating that: “Today Saturday, 04/02/2023 at about 1015hrs, while embarking series of confidence building patrols around different blackspots and flash points, the joint convoy patrol comprising of the Police and other agencies ran into a band of hoodlums around Apata Junction Market, Apata Area under Ido Local Government Area.”

“In a rather surprising event, the hoodlums who had perfected plans to molest residents, harass shop owners and loot shops on sighting the combined convoy of security launched a series of unprovoked attacks by firing guns, hurling stones, sharp objects and other dangerous missiles at them.”

“The trained officers, cautious of the level of casualties that might be recorded  should they engage at the location,  resorted to restraints and  professionally took charge at the scene while arresting the situation with reasonable force in line with standard operational procedure.”

“However, during the rage, an individual identified to have been a member of a vigilante group and who was reported to have died in the fiasco has since been deposited at a government hospital for post-mortem.”

“Meanwhile normalcy has since returned to the area with heavy deployment of patrol teams and other tactical assets visibly on ground.”

“So also, the Commissioner of Police has directed that the Deputy Commissioner of Police in Charge of the State Criminal Investigation Department leads the investigating team with a deadline for results as an arrest was made.”

“Recall the Command issued an advisory via a press release dated Friday 03/02/2023 with the intent to intimate residents about concluded plans of some criminal elements to destabilize and completely bring to a halt economic activities in the State by launching coordinated attacks on critical infrastructures to include INEC facilities, Banks, Correctional Centers, Religious Centers, Landmarks ,recreational Centers, Shopping Malls, Business  Centers, Public Spaces and other places of interest under the guise of protesting the scarcity of fuel and paucity of cash for dispense at ATM Machines and Point of Sales Terminals.”

“Consequent on the above stated, Oyo State Police Command in concert with relevant sister agencies embarked on high octane joint convoy patrols simultaneously across the nook and crannies of the state with the sole purpose of ridding the environs off undesirable elements with sinister motives of hijacking the situation to make criminal proceeds.”

Meanwhile, the unfavourable security situation in the state as a result of scarcities of the new naira notes and fuel, prevented the debate organised for the Presidential candidate of Labour Party, LP, Mr. Peter Obi from holding in Ibadan.

The abrupted Presidential debate was organised by the South West Development Stakeholders Forum (SWDSF), at Jogor Centre, Ibadan.