Gunmen Thursday night reportedly invaded Okhun community in Ovia North-East Local Government Area of Edo State and shot dead three members of the Edo State Security Network (ESSN).

Witnesses said the gunmen numbering over 10 invaded the community in a commando-like-style and killed the victims who were on duty.

It was learnt that the incident might not be unconnected with leadership tussle in the community, even as others linked the killing to suspected cult reprisal attack.

In a viral video, a member of the ESSN who simply introduced himself as ‘Commander Small Baba’, said “today (Thursday night), we got an information that some hoodlums were shooting sporadically in Okhun Community.

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“We swung into action immediately upon receiving the information. But we were attacked by the hoodlums. They killed three of my men in the process.

“I was also shot by the hoodlums, but I managed to escape”, Small Baba said.

He was also said to have sustained wound on his right hand.

When contacted, spokesman of the Edo State Police Command, SP Chidi Nwabuzor, confirmed the incident.

Recall that two persons were recently killed in Okhun Community which later snowballed into inter-cult war in different parts of Benin.

No fewer than 10 persons lost their lives during the cult reprisal attacks.

The residents of three local government areas of Okigwe, Ihitte-Uboma and Onuimo said the gunmen terrorizing their areas operate freely especially between 8pm to 11 pm, along Owerri-Okigwe road in Imo state, linking the three council areas.

Some of them who spoke in Owerri pleaded that their names should not be mentioned in the print.

This came following the attack by gunmen last Tuesday, at Umuezeala Owerre in Ehime Mbano Council area of Imo state. The attack led to the death of five (5) security operatives of the State’s Joint Task Force (JTF) comprising two (2) NDLEA personnel, one Civil Defense officer, one Police officer, and an Air Force Officer.

Earlier, however, eyewitnesses from the affected community put the figure of killed officers to eight.

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To this extent, the residents of the three local government areas have called on the Police to beef up security, particularly between Onuimo and Okigwe axis, adding that the residents have been under serious tension.

According to a traditional title holder and a farmer in Onuimo, said: “We can not talk again. They drive into our communities at night and shoot anyhow. Our people have abandoned their homes. Some of the houses now are occupied by strangers. They live there with their guns.

“Some of our traditional rulers have abandoned their palace, they live in Owerri. Some of the houses were attacked and burnt. We need security to come to Onuimo, they should go around, meet villagers, and ask them questions. I think they will get some of these boys doing all this damage.

“There is nothing we can do. We are helpless. We are trying to survive the situation. Very soon they will overrun all of us. We are begging the government to come to our aid.”

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Another, resident from Ihitte Uboma and a bus driver, plying Owerri-Okigwe road, claimed; “How can they talk of security while some of the police stations burnt by these gunmen have not been rebuilt? Go around the Ihitte- Uboma, Onuimo, and even some parts of Mbaise areas you see how those police stations are looking.

“Our government should look into these areas. So that police stations in the rural areas can be active. The government should give these officers sophisticated guns to face these guys.

“Along this Owerri-Okigwe road, we see these unknown gunmen but we pretend. If you see them they wear uniforms as if they are genuine security officers. That is why when they kill security officers, they take their guns and uniforms.

“So, if you talk they will kill you. All we are saying is that the government should meet these guys and ask them what they want and settle this matter. The government knows what to do to end insecurity.”

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Also, a trader in Okigwe, who wishes to be called Nne, narrated that; “Inside Okigwe town is somehow safe. But go to the villages. We are in fear. Sometimes, we can’t go home. We move to the next village to run away from attacks. We need protection here. Villages that have border with Anambra are under serious siege by gunmen. Let’s pray that these killings will end one day.”

Speaking on insecurity in Imo state under Governor Hope Uzodimma, a former governor of the state, Ikedi Ohakim, said: “It needs no exaggeration to say that the security situation in Imo state is worrisome.”

He went further to say: “Anybody who calls himself a leader must sympathize with our young men and women for the situation they are in, arising principally from the near collapse of our national economy and the acute shortage of job opportunities.

“Having said that, let me state that it is also high time, we the elders especially those in authority, changed our tactics and strategy for finding a lasting solution to the problems of the youths, particularly that of unemployment. The situation has become quite drastic and as such, the approach has to be drastic. We must stop playing politics with the problems of the youths.”

Reacting, the Imo state police command, through the state Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Henry Okoye, disclosed that since last Tuesday’s attacks, the command had sent a special tactical team, well equipped to address the issue of insecurity in the area.

Tragedy stuck in Okanla community in Irepodun Local Government Area of Osun State on Sunday as some men bearing arms stormed the palace of Olokanla of Okanla, killed an admission seeker, Ibrahim Qudus, before setting the building ablaze.

Uncle to the deceased, Jimoh Qadri, who spoke to The PUNCH, said the assailants were led by a man identified simply as Naim, who was the only one among the attackers that did not cover his face during the incident.

Qadri, who could not give a reason for the attack, said the perpetrators had initially stormed his personal house, and met his absence before they proceeded to his father’s house, late Oba Jimoh Adigun, the Olokanla of Okanla, that he used as palace before his demise.

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He said, “I was not at home, but my wife called me that gunmen numbering about 20 had stormed my house in Okanla area very early on Sunday. She told me they all covered their faces, but one of them bearing Naim did not cover his face and my wife saw him. The attackers were after me and they searched around the house.

“When they could not find me around, they vandalised the building and proceeded to my family house, where my late father, Olokanla of Okanla used as his palace. It was there they saw Qudus, a son to my elder brother, who was living in Ibadan, until he recently returned home to seek university admission, after writing UTME.

“He was killed and they put his corpse in my car parked within the premises and set the vehicle ablaze. They also set the palace ablaze. The reason behind the attack is not known to me. But it may not be unconnected to the tussle over land in our area. The family is pleading with the security agencies to ensure the perpetrators of this crime are apprehended.”

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When contacted, the Osun Police Command spokesperson, Yemisi Opalola, who said the Commissioner of Police, Kehinde Longe, had visited the scene of the crime, added that more operatives had been deployed to the area.

“Someone was burnt with a car around Okanla, the area is between Ifon and Ilobu. We have deployed our men to the area to forestall further breakdown of law and order. The Commissioner of Police has visited the scene,” Opalola stated.
PUNCH