No fewer than 15 vigilantes and hunters were killed on Sunday morning when armed bandits invaded Oke-Ode community in Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara State.
An unspecified number of residents were also reportedly kidnapped during the attack, which left the community in mourning.
A video of the incident obtained by Newsmen showed the bodies of slain vigilantes lying on the ground.
A member of the local vigilante group in the town, identified simply as Ajetunmobi, told our correspondent that the government was being economical with the truth by claiming the attackers were repelled.
“We have been hearing that the bandits were around the community since Saturday night, and we sent out messages to security operatives to be prepared.
“To our surprise, this morning the attackers started the attack from the duty post, targeting the vigilantes,” he said.
According to him, those killed included community members identified as Oji, Saheed Metubi, Baale Ógba Ayo, among others.
He added that the corpses were taken to the police station while the injured were rushed to the General Hospital in Share.
The vigilante member accused the government of failing in its duty to protect citizens, noting that intelligence about the planned attack had been circulating for days.
“The government failed in its primary duty. Information has been circulating for some time now that they were planning to attack Oke-Ode. Why were the soldiers withdrawn?” he queried.
Meanwhile, the National President of the Oke-Ode Community Development Association, Alhaji Ganiyu Ajala, while condemning the killings, urged the state government to step up its security response.
“While commending the government on the various security measures already put in place, we call for redoubling of efforts towards completely routing these undesirable elements from the Oke-Ode axis and the entire state in general,” Ajala said.
Hours before the Oke-Ode killings, another attack was reported in Tsaragi, Edu Local Government Area, where bandits abducted a businessman, Suleiman Ndana, popularly known as “Manager,” during a midnight raid on his residence.
The incident, which occurred around 12 a.m. on Sunday, threw the community into confusion as the gunmen, said to be heavily armed, fired several gunshots into the air to scare residents.
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