Residents of Arimogija community in Ose local government area of Ondo state have begun to flee the community following the fear of attack by herdsmen.
They also alleged that a helicopter came into the forest of the community and dropped some ammunition for the herdsmen. They said the matter was reported at the police station but no action was taken by the security agencies on the matter.
A resident, who did not want his name in the print, said the entire community had been living in fear and apprehension, saying some of the residents had begun to relocate from the community following the Fulani herdsmen’s attack.
“The Fulani herdsmen have killed three people in this community in just one week. They killed a rice farmer, Jacob Odushe, and his son, Adura, this week. They killed another boy, Victor Ejeh. The boy’s corpse was found in the bush after a week that he was declared missing. The cuts on his body showed that he was killed by the bandits.
“We want to appeal to the state government to come to our aid; we need serious presence of security agencies in this community as we don’t want to take laws into our hands.”
In his reaction, the special adviser to the governor on security matters, Alhaji Jimoh Dojumo, confirmed the killings, but said the governor had sent some security agents there to maintain law and order.
He said, “I have been there, with some people , the people were so bittered about the man and his son that were killed. As they saw us they started protesting but I was able to calm them down.
“They were apprehensive of the fact that they said they saw a particular helicopter that came to the bush and they were suspecting that the helicopter brought some Fulani to the place to come and attack them probably at night.
“But Mr. Governor has sent some solders there, as I am talking to you soldiers were patrolling the community,” he said.
When contacted, the police public relations officer, Mr. Tee-Leo Ikoro, declined comment on the matter, saying he was at a meeting.
UN chief lauds Nigeria’s response to covid-19 (4th)
The United Nations secretary-general, Antonio Guterres, has commended Nigeria’s response to the coronavirus (covid-19) pandemic.
Speaking during a virtual news briefing in New York on Thursday, Guterres singled out Nigeria as one of the developing countries that “have shown a remarkable capacity to respond.”
“I have to say this; some of these developing countries have shown a remarkable capacity to respond. I was quite impressed to see, for instance, Nigeria putting in place and immediately establishing a hospital.
“And I saw difficulties in countries that are much more developed to do quickly the same,” Guterres said.