A Commission of enquiry, set up by the Osun State Government to unravel the cause of the bloody clash at lle-ife, on Thursday visited the town, to assess the level of damage, as well as interact with the victims.
The commission, headed by a serving judge in the state, Justice Manshood Ajeigbe during the visit paid a courtesy visit to the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi in his palace to brief him on the focus and modus operandi of the commission.
Ogunwusi, while welcoming them to his palace lauded the initiative of the state government and commended the members of the commission for their commitment and spirit of service.
He specifically acknowledged the prompt response of the state Governor, Mr Rauf Aregbesola to the violent conflict, which according to him doused tension quickly.
The frontline monarch explained that his journey to the United Kingdom had afforded him the opportunity to meet with prominent traditional rulers in the North, including the Sultan of Sokoto and Emir of Kano to discuss on ways to avert reprisal attacks.
“My journey abroad afforded me the opportunity to meet with Sultan of sokoto, Emir of Kano and other top northern monarchs, and we had a very important discussion so that there won’t be reprisal attack, and concerning the unity and peaceful coexistence of Nigerians.
“The work continued when I left Ife; so far, so good, we have not seen reprisal attack and we pray it will never happen. It id very unfortunate that the violence happened and we want to urge the commission of enquiry to be very neutral.
“My prayers are with you. On behalf of Ooni in council and traditional chiefs, please be natural so as to get to the bottom of what triggerered this unfortunate occurrence. We do not pray for such a thing to happene again. It happened at the very centre of the Yoruba race.
“I got phone calls from every part of the world especially from leaders. Thank God the Governor intervened very promptly. May God not let us experience such a sad occurrence anywhere in the country again,” Ogunwusi said.
The head of the commission disclosed that the commission’s sittings would hold at the Oba Okunade Sijuade Memorial Hall, at Ereja Square in Ife in order to pave way for easy assess to the witnesses and victims of the clash.
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