Crisis broke out in Jebba, Moro local government area of Kwara State yesterday, over a traditional leadership crisis which claimed one life while three other persons were wounded by gunshots. The deceased was identified famously as Pastor.

Eyewitnesses claimed that the dispute was a renewal of an age-long disagreement between factions loyal to the traditional ruler of the town, Oba Abdulkadir Alabi Adebara, and members of an opposing camp simply identified as Okedares. It was gathered that pandemonium broke out moments after the Eid el Fitiri prayers when some indigenes believed to belong to the Okedare group allegedly began making some sinister displays at the front of Adebara's palace.

As efforts to stop the display were allegedly rebuffed, it was gathered that one popular man in the town identified as Baale Osogun, also decided to stage his own version of display at the same venue. Irked by the developments, some loyalists of the monarch were said to have attempted dispersing the crowd allegedly by force, leading to serious violent resistance.

One of the eyewitnesses said, "It was just as this moment that we started hearing the sounds of gunshots at Oke-Oja where the palace is sited. The shots felled three people who were promptly rushed to a nearby hospital. One of them died moments later. He was one man we call Pastor. The other two are in critical conditions. Besides, a vehicle and a motorcycle at the scene were burnt beyond recognition."

Although spokesman for the state’s police command ASP Ajayi Okasanmi said he was yet to be officially briefed on the incidence, he confirmed that policemen from Bode Sa'adu, headquarters of the LGA, had been drafted to the town to douse further tension.