Tension surged on Tuesday at the Ilejemeje Local Government Area Secretariat in Ẹda-Oniyọ, Ekiti State, as gunmen stormed the premises, triggering panic and chaos among workers.
Ekiti News reports that the attackers disrupted normal activities and forced employees to flee the premises in search of safety.
According to local sources, the heavily armed hoodlums, carrying dangerous weapons such as guns, charms, and cutlasses, stormed the Secretariat around 10:00 am.
The gunmen, reportedly from the Obbo-Ayegunle community in neighboring Kwara State, forcefully invaded the secretariat, unleashing violence by firing multiple gunshots. This caused chaos among the workers, who scattered in different directions to evade danger. In the ensuing commotion, one worker sustained injuries.
Furthermore, the hoodlums vandalized the secretariat building and other council properties during the attack.
The Eleda of Eda Oniyo community, Oba Awodipo Awolola while speaking on the attack said that the hoodlums had in few days attacked some residents of the community, with charm in their farmlands, the development which the monarch said had resulted in panic and tension in the community.
Oba Awolola, expressing concern over the absence of a police post in the area, emphasized the necessity for security outfits to deploy additional officers to the community to forestall further breaches of law and order.
Likewise, the Chairman of Ilejemaje Local Government, Mr. Alaba Dada, identified the suspected hoodlums from the Obbo-Ayegunle community in Kwara State.
The council boss attributed the attacks to the longstanding land disputes between the two communities.
Mr. Dada emphasized the necessity for the governments of Ekiti and Kwara States to convene a meeting to resolve the land dispute in the interest of peace and fostering harmonious relationships between the communities.