No fewer than 20 houses and 30 shops were razed, with property worth millions of naira destroyed, when hoodlums clashed in the early hours of Sunday in some areas of Ibadan metropolis, Oyo State.
The incident was said to have been a fallout of rivalry between gangs of young boys in Idi-Arere, Sakapena, Oke-Ado, Kosodo, Oranyan, Asaka and Ita Saku.
The troublemakers were said to have stormed the areas with weapons such as guns, cutlasses, axes and knives. They reportedly shot indiscriminately into the air to announce their arrival.
Daily Sun gathered that the yet-to-be-identified hoodlums had been engaged in violent scuffles for the past few days in the affected areas, and yesterday’s attacks were reprisals. It was further gathered that the hoodlums that perpetrated the arson also used the occasion to loot many shops in the area.
Investigation revealed that some of the youth living within Idi-Arere and Sakapena area had a protracted disagree- ment with another gang of boys from other locations in the city, which led to the attacks.
A visit to the scene yesterday showed that the hoodlums wreaked havoc on both sides of the road from Idi-Arere to Sakapena.
Some of the affected structures in the areas included clothing retail outlets, pharmacy shop, soft drink sales points, electronics shops, warehouses, frozen foods shops, tailoring shops and hairdressers’ shops, among others.
One of the residents of the area, who preferred anonymity, told journalists that the hoodlums “burnt houses and shops. “It was very late, though it happened in the midnight. It was when we woke up this morning that we saw everything. It is not up to Popoyemoja, it stopped at Idi-Arere; from that junction to Bode Road.
“Though I can’t count the number of shops, it was a stretch from that junction up to Hallelujah Petrol Station. We are talking of about 10 to 15 shops on this side and 10 to 15 shops on the other side.
