An 18-year-old girl identified as Abubakar Kofoworola Lateefat was on Saturday killed at Idi Oro in Ibadan North West Local Government Area of Oyo State by a stray bullet allegedly shot by a security agent on election duty.
The security agent was reportedly trying to disperse the crowd at one of the polling units when he accidentally shot the girl who died on the spot.
Angry youth from the area thereafter took to the streets protesting the injustice, demanding that the security agent responsible for the murder be brought to justice.
The tension was heightened in the area when the police tried to calm the crowd unsuccessfully. The Oyo State Commissioner of Police, Abiodun Odude who confirmed the incident to reporters, said that a security agent indeed accidentally shot the girl but it wasn’t the police.
He said investigations into the sad event has already commenced. Meanwhile the Oyo state governor Abiola Ajimobi has condemned the killing in strong terms even as he condoles with the family of the slain girl.
In a statement by the Special Adviser, Communication and Strategy to the governor, Bolaji Tunji, said that the governor was pained by the disturbing news, especially coming on the heels of the successful conduct of the state’s first local government election in 11 years.
Tunji said that the governor condoled with the family of the victim and vowed to ensure that the perpetrators were brought to justice.
He said,“From the intelligence reports at my disposal the perpetrators of this heinous and condemnable crime were the recalcitrant cultists engaging in supremacy battle in Idi Oro and Ayeye areas of Ibadan who are yet to embrace our peace initiative.
“That they chose to disturb the peace of the neighbourhood on the day Oyo had a very peaceful LG election across the state is regrettable. “I was told that elections took place successfully in the polling unit closest to the scene of the incident without any hitch before the cultists struck.
