Suspected  Herdsmen Unleash Terror In Ondo, Sack Four Communities, Kill Over 14

By Ayodele Oni

Coming less than 24 hours after the Commissioner of Police in Ondo State, Wilfred Afolabi, complained of lack of equipment to tackle increasing criminality in the State, suspected armed herdsmen have reportedly attacked four communities in Akure North Local Government Area, killing over 20 farmers.

The affected communities are Aba Alajido, Aba Sunday,  Aba Pastor and Ademekun Communities all in Akure North local government.

Report disclosed that the herdsmen have been attacking different communities and killing farmers unchallenged by security agents.

It was gathered that 14 dead bodies were recovered in the last 48 hours while a search continues for other missing residents.

Report also indicated that not less than  20 people were gunned down during the night raid by the suspected  bandits.

Police confirmed, on Monday , that the policemen were deployed in the area on Sunday and no fewer than 14 dead bodies had so far been recovered in the affected communities while search was still ongoing as at the time of filing this report.

” Our men were immediately deployed in the area when the report got to the command on Saturday. As I’m speaking with you, about 14 dead bodies had been recovered in the villages, the source stated .

One of the residents of one of the attacked communities, who simply identified himself as Sunday, explained, that over 40 people were killed by the bandits while many residents have deserted the communities.

He disclosed that the attack had started since last week Monday but the major one happened on Friday night without anybody stopping them.

“They attacked our  communities on Friday night when everyone was asleep. They opened fire at everyone at sight. So many ran to the bush for safety while some unlucky ones were killed at the villages . I am sure that over 40 people have been killed while many had sustained injuries.

” On Sunday, the security men came around and recovered some of the the corpses. Many are still not found, if they search further they will still find more dead bodies in the bush.”

Also confirming the attacks in a pathetic narration, the Regent of one of the attacked communities, Ademekun Village, Princess Adelowo Adekemisola, expressed sadness over the killings of more than 14 farmers last weekend by the herdsmen that infiltrated the areas and started shooting sporadically.

The Regent, when narrating her experience before the Ondo State government representatives at a town hall meeting with cocoa farmers in Akure on Monday said that her community had been battling with the herdsmen problem without security actions.

According to her, the herdsmen came through the Edo-Ondo boundary to attack them.

Confirming the incidents, the Ondo State Police Command’s spokesperson, Mrs Funmilayo Odunlami, said the police and security agencies are working hard to track down perpetrators and to protect other communities around Akure north council area.

CP Afolabi had revealed that the Ondo  command needs assistance from government and other stakeholders in the state in terms of provision of patrol vans and repair of grounded patrol vehicles for timely and effective response to distress calls.

“We can’t use orthodox method to address present security challenges. Most of our vehicles are grounded. The refurbishing are ongoing through the financial assistance from the people.

“We need Military drone that can go 50km, live tracking devices to get the location where criminals are hiding, Lawful Intersection (LI), fueling of vehicles among others.

“Now, kidnapping has gone highly sophisticated and you can confirm it from anybody. We can’t use the same old method, or maybe the approach of the 70s or the 80s or even the 90s to address this present security challenges.”