Three persons were reportedly killed when gunmen launched an attack on the Ajokpachi Odo community in Omala Local Government Area of Kogi State.
The attack on the community happened on Tuesday, barely a month after suspected gunmen attacked a neighbouring community of Agojeju Odo, killing over 27 people .The locals reported that the gunmen laid ambush on a group of youth in the area who were on surveillance mission and killed three of them.
Local sources added that the gunmen entered the town and started shooting sporadically to scare people away, while they carted away motorbikes, foodstuffs and other valuables.
The sources explained that the assailants were herders who were fleeing from violence at the border community of Agatu in Benue state.
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The Caretaker Committee chairman of Omala Local Government Area, Hon Marknoble Peter Edibo , confirmed the incident. He lamented the plight of his people in the hands of the alleged herdsmen and Agatu militia in Benue and Nasarawa states.
“The magnitude of the crisis is too weighty for only the council to bear, even as the state government has not relented in its efforts to finding lasting solutions to the crisis”, he said
Also, a Community Leader , Nifu Abuka who claimed to have spent all night in the bush for his life as a result of the incident, said, since the ugly attack on Agojeju Odo, his people have been sleeping with one eye closed.
“Presently, the survivors have fled their ancestral homes, and if not checked, it would worsen food security in the area,” he added.
The Kogi State Police Command’s Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Williams Aya, was contacted via text and call, but did not respond as at the time of filing this report.