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 percent 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.
INSECURITY: Gunmen Kidnap Ondo Monarch From His Palace
The Oloso of Oso, Oba Clement Jimoh Olukotun, in Ajowa-Akoko in the Akoko North-West Local Government Area of Ondo State, has been abducted by gun-wielding kidnappers.
According to sources in the community, the kidnappers stormed the monarch’s home on Thursday, December 1, 2022, at about 10:15 pm and took him to an unidentified location.
The kidnappers were said to have shot randomly and broken the monarch’s palace main entrance to gain entry to his residential complex.
One of the sources claimed that when the kidnappers arrived at the home, they knocked on the door and, upon seeing that the residents were not prepared to voluntarily submit, they shot at the main door and completely destroyed it.
The pellets, he said, pierced the living room’s door and wall, but none of the people within the palace were wounded.
The source claimed that no one in the town could leave their homes because of how loud the gunshots were.
“They destroyed the main door and entered. They terrorised Kabiyesi and his family members before dragging him out and took him away. None of the family members had been contacted, but we knew they were kidnappers”.
Confirming the incident, the police spokesperson in the state, SP Funmilayo Odunlami, said, “it is true, but the details of the incident are still not clear.
“Police from the Divisional Police headquarters at Oke-Agbe, headquarters of Akoko Northwest Local Government have been deployed in the town to launch investigation into the incident.”
