Scores injured as thugs clash in Osogbo

Scores of residents have been seriously injured in Osogbo, capital of Osun State after rival groups of thugs clashed at Egbatedo area.

Property worth millions of naira and vehicles were also destroyed in the melee.

Eyewitness told Daily Trust that a notorious gang of thugs from Itakogun area of Osogbo stormed the den of another gang of thugs at Egbatedo with dangerous weapons including guns, cutlasses and axe maimed some boys at Egbatedo.

In the bloody clash which lasted for over two hours, the hoodlums did not spare the residents of the area as they attack any object they sight in the area.

The thugs vandalised vehicles parked along the streets when the owners of the vehicle abandoned their vehicles and fled to safety.

At least 15 cars were vandalised.

For hours later, the area remained deserted as residents could not open their shops and business centres.

The residents said the scene they witnessed was scary and they could not go back to their shops for fear of attack by the thugs.

One of the residents who preferred anonymity described the situation as a real state of anarchy and wondered where the thugs got the guns.

He lamented that the thugs shot sporadically unchallenged.

Another resident of the area, Sunday bemoaned that his Nissan car was damaged and that he does not have money to repair the vehicle that he was using for commercial purpose to feed his family.

“When these thugs came, instead of facing their fellow thugs, they vandalised my car. Now, I don’t know what to do again because this car is my only means of survival,” he said.

The residents expressed displeasure at the attitude of men of Osun State police Command as they accused policemen from Dugbe Divisional Police Headquarters of aiding the thugs.

A resident of the area said it was the men of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps saved the situation and doused the tension.

The Acting Police Public Relations Officer for Osun Police Command, ASP Ajibade Egbedele told Daily Trust that Osun State police authority is on top of the situation.