By correspondent .
Unknown gunmen have stormed Agojeju Odo community in Omala Local Government area of Kigi State, north central Nigeria, leaving in their trail, 19 persons dead and set many houses ablaze.
Feelers from the community said that well armed gunmen invaded the community in the late hours of Thursday, April 5, 2024 when its residents were asleep.
A community leader, who would not want his identity kniwn but narrowly escaped death in the hand of the attackers,said residents were caught off guard by the sudden onslaught.
He added that 19 bodies were recovered, pointing out that local vigilantes had been combing the surrounding bush to locate missing persons.
The community leader appealed to the Kogi state governor, Usman Ahmed Ododo and Security Agencies to come to the aid of the community by deploying more security personnel to the area.
The Police Command Public Relations Officer, for the Police Command in the state,SP William Ovie Aya, who confirmed the incident, said that the command had deployed its personnel to the community to restore peace.
Aya assured that the perpetrators of the henious crime would be arrested and made to face justice.
Meanwhile,Sen. Abubakar Ohere has commended Gov. Usman Ahmed Ododo for the proactive steps he has taken, thus far, in ensuring that normalcy returns to the crisis ridden.
Ohere, who represented Kogi Central Senatorial District, condemned in strong terms, the killing, condoled with deceased families in a statement he made available to journalists in Lokoja, described the attack as inhuman.
Ohere described the henious crime against the community as “man’s inhumanity against his fellow man a crime he noted had been taken too extreme.
“It is with heavy heart that I strongly condemn the Killings in Agojeju-Odo Community of Omala Local Government Area, Kogi State.
“This attack on the
Agojeju-Odo Community of Omala Local Government Area, is one too many, despite efforts and intervention for peace by previous administration.
The former Lawmaker expressed dismay that in spite all efforts geared towards ensuring peace, some mischief makers who do not mean well for the state would attack defenseless and innocent citizens.
“Let me, however,command Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo for all of the high powered engagement that has been ongoing to forestall a repeat of such occurrence in Omala LGA.
” With the commitment thus far, these killers, in whatever guise, would not go unpunished,”he added.
Our correspondent reports that though the immediate cause of the latest crisis in the affected not yet known, experience shows that herder-farmer clashes and disputes on lands and ponds usually trigger crises in some communities , especially in the eastern part of the state.
Edited by Dawud Ahmed.
