By Friday Omosola
No fewer than three persons were reportedly murdered by gunmen in Molege an agrarian community in Ose Local Government Area of Ondo State on Thursday.
The gunmen, who are suspected to be herdsmen, were said to have allegedly ambushed the agrarian community as the residents refused to enable them to graze on their farms.
Narrating ordeals after the attack, a source from the community told The Trumpet that buildings in the community were razed overnight by the herdsmen while the villagers fled for their lives.
“In their vast numbers, the herdsmen attacked the community and killed three in the evening and hours later they came back to burn down the houses in the community in the night,” the source said.
However, another source hinted The Trumpet that the bandits similarly attacked and injured some men of the Ondo State Security Network Agency (Amotekun Corps), who moved to calm the crisis in the community.
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Reacting, the Commander of the Ondo State Amotekun Corps, Akogun Adetunji Adeleye affirmed that the herdsmen attacked his men while on patrol in the community.
“While on a regular patrol at Molege, our men were informed that some nearby villages in Molege had been taken over by herdsmen while they burnt down some people’s properties,” he said
He added that investigation is currently ongoing to find out the perpetrators as well urging the inhabitants of the community to come back to their residences as peace has been restored to the village.
In the same vein, the Ondo State Commissioner of Police, Mr Oyeyemi Oyediran, in a statement by the Public Relations Officer, Mrs Funmilayo Odunlami, announced that the Police force in the state has paid a visit to community to ascertained the level of damage.
The statement also added that many houses were touched by the bandits. Noting that men of the Special Squads and PMF personnel have been deployed to ensure the protection of lives and property in the community.
The Commissioner of Police, however, vowed to arrest and prosecute all those involved in the evil act.
