Bandits have invaded Mashegu local government area of Niger state, killed the village head of Mulo, and abducted three others from the community.
Usman Garba, the village head, was said to be gruesomely murdered by the bandits and his corpse was dumped by the roadside and they fled with the three others abducted.
Emmanuel Umar, the state commissioner of Internal Security and Humanitarian Affairs, who made this known while addressing Journalists at Government House, Minna yesterday said the incident happened on Thursday night.
The police commissioner stated that though there had been relative peace recorded in most of the local government areas regarding terrorism in the past few months, some local government areas were still being threatened by the bandits.
“There had been tremendous improvements in the security situation in Niger state in the past few months but there are still pockets of threats still existing in some communities especially Kontagora, Mashegu, and Mariga local government areas.
“The latest one is the invasion of these bandits of some communities in Mashegu on Thursday during which four people including the village head of Mulo, Alhaji Usman Garba, and three others were abducted.
“Unfortunately, the traditional ruler was gruesomely murdered by the hoodlums,” the Commissioner revealed.
He said the state Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello while expressing sympathy of the state government over the death of the monarch has also directed the Joint Security Task Force to go after the bandits and rescue the abducted villagers and also flush out the bandits from their various hide out in the state.
Emmanuel Umar also called on the villagers to cooperate with security agencies in their communities in assisting the Security Agencies with useful information about the movement of the bandits in order to completely flush them out of the state.
Gunmen Kill Councillor, One Other Person As Ondo Communal Clash Escalate
Two persons were killed in Koseru community, a farm settlement in Odigbo local government area of Ondo State when gunmen invaded the area in a suspected reprisal attack.
Those killed were the Councillor representing the axis and a local vigilance member simply identified as Kayode.
The name of the Councillor was yet to be verified as of the time of filing this report.
It was gathered that the gunmen launched the attack on Saturday, December 10, 2022, following the shooting of a woman in Kajola village, Okitipupa local government.
The gunmen suspected to be Ikale youths reportedly destroyed some farmlands.
A Facebook user, Christiana Umukoro, confirmed the attack and said his father was beaten by the attackers.
He said 95 per cent of the villages have fled for their lives.
Special Adviser to Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu on Security Matters and Commander of the Ondo Amotekun Corps, Chief Adetunji Adeleye, said the corpses of the dead have been deposited in a mortuary.
Adeleye, who denied killing of Amotekun operatives in the attack, said normalcy has been restored to the community.
He stated that a combined team of policemen, soldiers and Amotekun Corps kept vigilance in the community.
According to him:” There has been an age-long crisis in Koseru between Oluku family of Ikale in Okitipupa and the Oyo/Osun farmers living in Odigbo local government. The Oyo/Osun are predominantly cash crop farmers. They have been fighting over ownership of the land.
“The fresh crisis erupted when a one women in Kajola was shot.
“We are suspecting a reprisal attack of some Ikale youths who mobilised themselves and launched attack on the unsuspecting Osun/Oyo farmers. There is a Councillor representing Oyo/Osun axis that was killed in the fracas. A vigilance member and not Amotekun was killed. Their corpses have been deposited at the hospital. Amotekun, Police and the Army maintain vigilance overnight to ensure peace returns. The attackers destroyed more of farmlands.”
Ondo Police spokesman, SP Funmilayo Odunlami, said no policeman was killed in the attack.
She said an official statement would soon be released.
