Residents of Onideore Ogundipe Street, in the Oranyan area of Ibadan, Oyo State, are in panic after hoodlums attacked the community.

During the attack, which happened on Sunday, three people were reported to have been shot by the hoodlums.

Residents said the immediate cause of the fracas had yet to be ascertained.

According to a source, trouble started when the youth, numbering about 100, took to the streets around 8pm, hindering commercial and vehicular activities.

They were said to have attacked motorists and traders in the area.

Eyewitnesses said vehicles and shops were vandalised during the incident.

One of the victims, Badmus Yusuf, claimed that N800,000 which he kept in his shop was stolen by the hoodlums.

He said, “As a result of the chaos, some residents were forced to vacate their homes for fear of being attacked.

“Of the four people that sustained bullet injuries, only one young man sustained life- threatening injuries. He was rushed to the University College Hospital, Ibadan.”

The National President of Soludero Hunters Association, Wahab Anabi, said it took the combined efforts of hunters and the Amotekun operatives to quell the violence.

Anabi said, “We reported the incident at the Idi Aro Police Station. I saw some of the boys; they had guns. They wanted to shoot one person, but bullets hit three people. We drove them away.

“We thought they had gone, only for them to regroup around 12am. We were helpless because they ran into densely populated areas to evade arrest. We observed that they were young boys. We only shot into the air to scare them away. The Amotekun operatives later joined us. They vandalised vehicles and looted shops.”

The police, however, denied that the matter was reported at the station.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, Olugbenga Fadeyi, said, “The Divisional Police Officer said it was a blatant lie; there was no such report at the station. Notwithstanding, efforts have been intensified to know if anything of such happened or not.”