Suspected herdsmen attack Ondo community, killing five people

Some herdsmen attacked the Arimogija community in the Ose Local Government Area of Ondo State on Monday afternoon, killing five people and injuring several others 72 hours after attacking the Molege community in the Ose Local Government Area of Ondo State, where three people were killed and buildings set ablaze.

According to reports, armed herdsmen attacked some men on their farm, killing two of them and injuring others, who then informed the rest of the community.

The community’s youth and vigilante group mobilized to the farm, but the herdsmen who had been laying siege to them attacked them, killing three men, including the community’s youth leader, Lucky Augustine, and injuring a large number of others.

The armed men fled into the bush from the community, while residents alerted members of the state security outfit Amotekun, who pursued the hoodlums into the forest.

Mr Nweke Izuchukwu Jude, Arimogija’s youth secretary, recounted the incident, explaining that the five youths were killed in two separate attacks by the herdsmen.

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“They attacked the first group of people on the farm and killed two of them,” he explained. Those injured in the first attack were the ones who sought assistance from other villagers.

However, those who came to their aid were attempting to transport the injured back to their homes for treatment. The armed herders reappeared and slaughtered three more people.

“We can no longer go to our farms because the armed men are still in our bushes and farmlands.” They have a better understanding of the forest’s topography than we do; all we need is security personnel to chase them away and apprehend as many as possible.”
He, on the other hand, claimed that the attackers carried out the attack because there were no security personnel on the ground in the community, claiming that all of the police officers who arrived with the governor, with the exception of one, left with the governor on Sunday evening and that the only one left could not enter the forest.

He appeals to the governor for more security personnel to protect the villagers from another attack.

The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Funmilayo Odunlami, confirmed the attack but said the details are still sketchy.

Chief Adetunji Adeyeye, Commander of the Ondo Amotekun Corps, said his men stationed at Molege were informed of the attack and rushed to the scene.

He said his men had been dispatched to the area to search the forest for the perpetrators, but he wouldn’t say how many people were killed.

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Some herdsmen attacked the Molege community in the same local council area last Friday, killing three people and setting buildings and property on fire.

Mr Rotimi Akeredolu, the state governor, paid a visit to the area on Sunday to assess the level of devastation and promised to bring those responsible to justice.