Four persons have been killed and ten others injured during a land dispute between the Akure and Idanre communities in Ondo State.

Saturday Vanguard gathered that tension had been mounting for days before it escalated into a deadly clash on Friday.

Reports indicate that the Idanre and Akure communities have been at loggerheads over the disputed Gbalegi village for years.

Consequently, the police in the state have arrested seven suspects in connection with the violent clash in the communities.

Sources stated that the disputed village has been deserted by its residents following the bloodbath.

Police detectives have been deployed to the disputed land by the state police command.

It was learned that the youths in the community took the corpses to the police station to protest the killings.

The youths later moved the corpses to the state specialist hospital morgue in Akure, the state capital.

Speaking on the incident, the spokesperson for the state police command, Funmi Odunlami, confirmed the deaths and the apprehension of the suspects.

Odunlami stated, “The police command received a distress call that a group of thugs mobilized themselves to the Gbalegi area (a disputed land between Akure and Idanre) and were attacking the people in that area.”

“The police, upon receiving this information, moved to the scene and arrested seven (7) individuals in possession of charms and seven single-barrel guns, along with a cache of live ammunition and expended shells.”

Odunlami added that “the police further combed the nearby bush areas and found four (4) corpses with bullet wounds.”

The police commissioner, Wilfred Afolabi, has therefore called for caution in handling cases related to boundary disputes and urged communities involved in land conflicts to seek legal redress through the courts rather than resorting to self-help or violence.