Son Gotleu remains on red alert warns city council

However, the security services and Palma city council are not totally convinced that the peace and tranquillity has returned to the conflictive Palma neighborhood which also has a problem with petty crime and drugs, not to mention rivalry between the various different ethnic communities which live in the area.

Yesterday, Palma City Councillor for Civil Security, Guillermo Navarro, said that the situation continues to be of “maximum tension” and that the extra police will remain on the beat in the area for at least another week.

While the Councillor said that the police do appear to have brokered the peace between the Nigerians and the gypsies, who were initially blamed for the death of the Nigerian Efosa Okosun who fell from a fifth floor balcony at midnight on Sunday, he fears there are factions in the community intent on provoking further violence and clashes with the police. “There is no way we are letting our guard down and policing and security in Son Gotleu is going to be top of the agenda at a forthcoming council meeting,” Navarro said.

Both the councillor and local police chiefs held another round of talks with community leaders yesterday as police continued their investigation into the death of Okosun.

Initially, police described it as an accident as he fell while trying to climb from one balcony to another while Nigerian eyewitnesses have claimed that the victim was being chased by two gypsies who were shouting for money.

Now, it appears, that the victim may have been planning a robbery, according to the police.
Sources close to the investigation explained yesterday that the victim may have been trying to enter the property from the exterior of the apartment block when he was spotted by a neighbour who screamed, frightening him and forcing him to try and flee the scene - and that is when he fell.

Over the past two days, the police have taken hundreds of statements and trawled through hours of CCTV footage in an attempt to piece together what happened and it appears that they are nearing the truth.

The Central government delegate, Ramon Socias, backed up the police theory yesterday and underlined the fact that no members of the gypsy community were involved in what he described as an “unfortunate accident”.

Based on the information he has received so far from the police, Socias also ruled out the incident being drug related.
Although, he did highlight the serious problems caused by the warring gangs of drug dealers in the area and warned that tough action is going to be taken to try and diffuse the constant tension. “There is a secret war being fought between the clans and gangs in an attempt to take over control of the drugs market. We're facing a complicated problem in Son Gotleu but we must all work together in finding the answer and guaranteeing safety for the local residents.”