Rampaging bandits struck Oke-Ode in the Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara State early Sunday morning, killing 11 forest guards and the Baale (community head) of Ogbayo.
The guards were part of a joint security effort to safeguard the area, having been positioned to protect the community from rising insecurity in the region.
Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, in a statement released by his Press Secretary, Rafiu Ajakaye, expressed profound sorrow over the killings, calling for urgent reinforcement of military and security presence in Kwara South and Kwara North.
Governor AbdulRazaq stressed the need for increased security deployments to stamp out criminal activity in the state, adding that the forest guards, despite limited resources, mounted a valiant resistance against the attackers.
Despite the heavy loss, the Governor commended the local forest guards and hunters for their bravery, revealing that several of the attackers were neutralised during the confrontation.
Meanwhile, the Army Headquarters has ordered the General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 2 Division, Ibadan, to immediately relocate to Kwara to oversee military operations in response to the attack.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Army in its efforts to help fight insecurity in the State of Harmony arrested five ‘persons of interest’ at a checkpoint in the Share axis of Ifelodun local government, penultimate week.
They were found in possession of six AK-47 rifles.
“Five suspected kidnappers were arrested along Share axis. They kept six AK47 underneath charcoal in a Golf saloon car this afternoon.
They were intercepted by the Nigerian Army team on Patrol. The five suspects are undergoing interrogation,” a top security aide said on Thursday night.
Their arrest came a day after six people were arrested in Babanla area on suspicion of being couriers for the kidnappers with a large consignment of bread and petrol.
They were arrested while hiding during a surveillance operation by government-backed local vigilantes around Babanla penultimate Wednesday.
