Gunmen kill 3 in Kogi community

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.