Unknown gunmen on Thursday invaded Agojeju Odo in Omala Local Government Area of Kogi state and killed nineteen people while many houses were set ablaze.
According to the report, 19 people were killed yesterday while another 15 bodies were recovered from the bush on Friday morning.
According to reports, the armed men encircled the community and launched a violent assault, resulting in fatalities and the destruction of homes.
An anonymous community leader, who narrowly escaped the attack, revealed that the sudden onslaught caught the residents off guard.
Currently, 34 bodies have been recovered, and local vigilantes are conducting search operations in the surrounding bush to locate missing individuals.
Rumors of a potential invasion had been circulating for the past three weeks, and the newly appointed Local Government Council Caretaker Chairman, Mark Edibo, had been notified, despite assurances of safety and security.
According to a source the violence stemmed from a disagreement between a young man in Agojeju-Odo and a Fulani herder over damage to his farm by cattle. Despite intervention by the caretaker chairman, tensions escalated.
Meanwhile, the Kogi State Police Public Relations Officer, SP William Aya, confirmed the incident, stating that the Commissioner of Police had deployed a tactical squad comprising Mobile Police, Soldiers, and Vigilante men to restore order in response to a distress call.
SP Aya could not provide an exact casualty figure but assured that he would gather information from the Divisional Police Officer in charge of Omala Local Government Council and provide an update.
“As for the figure of dead persons, I can’t confirm now. I will call you after I have spoken with the DPO in charge of Omala, but I know that so many people sustained gunshot injuries,” he said.
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Confirming the incident on Friday, the Police Public Relation Officer of Kogi State Police Command William Aya, said the yet-to-be-identified gunmen attacked the Agojeju Odo community in Omala LGA on Thursday, noting that the Divisional Police Office of the local government informed him that nineteen people were killed while some sustained injured in the attack.
He stated that the Commissioner of Police Kogi State Police Command, CP Bethrand Onuoha had deployed more policemen to the communities, assuring that the perpetrators of the heinous act would be apprehended.
The community appealed to Kogi State Governor Usman Ododo and Security Agencies to come to their aid by deploying more security personnel to the area, as the police in the Local Government Council have been overwhelmed and overpowered by the attackers.
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