No fewer than seven persons are feared killed in a protracted communal clash between Itsukwi and Imiakebu Communities in North Ibie, Etsako East Local Government Area of Edo State.

The boundary dispute was said to have resulted into a bloody crisis on last Friday, December 28 when youths from one of the villages barricaded the road from Okpella to North Ibie, preventing motorists and passengers from accessing the road.

A team of police operatives were dispatched to the area to ward-off tension.

But the angry youths reportedly opened fire on the police injuring one officer and was rushed to the hospital.

It was learnt that on Saturday, a team of police that was deployed to the area to effect arrest, clashed with security operatives and in the process, five persons were killed including a police officer while others sustained injuries.

Spokesman for the Nigeria police, Edo State Command, Mr Chidi Nwabuzor, however, disputed the figure, insisting that no life was lost during the communal crisis.

Nwanbuzor said that a policeman sustained an injury during the bloody encounter and was currently receiving treatment at the Intensive care unit of Irrua Specialist Hospital, Ekpoma.

He stated that investigations were ongoing, adding that the police were determined to arrest the perpetrators of the mayhem and brought them to justice.

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