Residents panic as bandits reign of terror returns to Ondo LG

Farmers and other residents of the Ose Local Government Area of Ondo State are currently living in fear as bandits, who have once been tamed, have returned to the communities with more deadly missions.

On June 10, 2023, members of the Ondo State Executive Council led by the Acting Governor, Mr Lucky Aiyedatiwa, and the bishop and members of the Ondo Catholic Diocese, together with some other stakeholders, held a memorial service in Owo town, the headquarters of the Owo Local Government Area of the state to honour the victims of a terrorist attack, which took place in the ancient town about one year ago.

It was widely reported in the media spaces that no fewer than 41 worshippers of St. Francis Catholic, Owo, were killed, while many were brutally injured by the suspected terrorists who seem to have escaped justice as they have neither been arrested nor brought to book since then.

However, after the incident, it was observed that the security agencies in the state, the police, the Army, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps as well as the state-owned security outfit, the Amotekun Corps, had re-strategised their modus operandi and consequently, there was a reduction in the act of criminalities, particularly kidnapping in the state. The people felt a sigh of relief. Also, the clashes between the farmers and the herders, which used to be common occurrences were vehemently tamed.

During this period, the Amotekun Commander in the state, Akogun Adetunji Adeleye, in one of his interviews, gladly passed on the information that the bandits had been flushed out of the state, as a result of the rigorous efforts of the joint security forces and the obstinate determination and commitment of the state Governor, Mr Rotimi Akeredolu, to providing security of lives and properties of the people in the state.

But in the past few weeks, the criminal strangers seemed to have found their way back to the Sunshine State, to unleash terror on the people, especially dwellers of some communities in the Ose Local Government Area of the state. In the last two months, many people in the area have been killed while some have been kidnapped, although some lucky kidnapped victims were released after the payments of ransom.

It is a thing of note that all these are occurring while Akeredolu was not in the state (as it is a known fact that the governor has been on medical leave following his ill-health and he has handed the administration of the state to his deputy, Mr Lucky Aiyedatiwa, till he returns to the office. This development raises suspicion in some quarters that the hoodlums were capitalising on the absence of the state chief executive, to

tempestuously disturb the tranquility of the state.

As a matter of fact,

Ose Local Government Area communities are currently most affected probably due to their geographical location, as they are at the boundary between Edo and Ondo states. It was learnt that the bandits are in Edo State and whenever they carried out their nefarious activities, in the affected communities, they would escape to Edo to evade arrest.

According to a source in the area, some of the victims were tortured to death by the bandits in their den. He further stated that a brother of one of the members of the House of Representatives from the state was kidnapped in May this year along Okeluse-Arimogija road in the council area and the victim has not been released as of the time of filing this report despite the ransom payment to the bandits.

The source said, “To the best of my knowledge the man (lawmaker’s brother) is still with the kidnappers and a sum of N5m has been paid to them, yet they have not released him.”

The source added that, between April and June this year, scores had been kidnapped almost on a daily basis, while some who attempted to escape or were unable to pay the ransom were killed. Another source revealed that two were killed and six were abducted in the Ose LGA, in the last two weeks, causing panic in the area. He argued that the presence of security personnel was not much in the boundary communities, urging the government to deploy more.

The most recent incident was the abduction of the Chief Imam of the Uso Community, in Owo Local Government Area of the state, Alhaji Ibrahim Oyinlade, who was kidnapped while working on his farm. However, it was gathered that the Muslim cleric was released after N2m was paid as a ransom.

A few days before this incident, about 13 travellers in an 18-passenger bus were abducted along Isua-Abuja Road in Akoko South-East Local Government Area of the state. It took efforts of the joint security operatives in the area to set the victims free. All these and many other security infractions are taking place in the Ondo North Senatorial District.

To this end, residents of the affected communities in Ose LGA, that is, Imoru, Okeluse, Arimogija, and Ijagba among others,are currently appealing to the state government to deploy more security personnel in the area. They described the bandits as part of the herdsmen residing in the neighbouring state.

In his words of appeal, a traditional ruler in Ijagba town, High Chief Sunday Ogoh, said there was already panic in the agrarian communities as the farmers could no longer work on their farms for fear of being kidnapped, calling on the government to act on this matter.

Ogoh said; “We are constrained to inform the Ondo State Government of the disheartening incident in the Ose Local Government South axis, particularly in Ijagba town. For the past two years, we have not been having peace of mind in our community with a lot of kidnapping, killings, and burning of our houses, and farm lands by these herdsmen that had been terrorising the community.

“Last week (penultimate week), we lost one of our illustrious sons by name Ohiremen Isaac Odeh while the son too, named Solomon Isaac Odeh, was also attacked on their way to the farm. Apart from that, in that area, we also lost one of our former chairmen, Mr. Bola Adelegbe.

“In search for the victims in the bush, it was discovered that Mr Ohiremen Isaac Odeh was killed by the abductors, while his lifeless body was found after trekking some kilometres in the bush while a ransom of N400,000 was paid to the abductors to release his son.

“It is now imperative due to the ugly incident to carry out and seek the support of the government and all relevant security authorities to protect our lives and properties, which is one of the primary duties of the government since we can no longer go to the farm or sleep with our two eyes closed. This problem is not only limited to Ijagba, these Fulani herdsmen do operate in Imoru, Molege, Arimagija, and Okeluse (in the Ose LGA). In that axis, there is no security.

“So we are appealing to the state government that we need; a strong military base, Nigerian Army to be specific so that they can mount one or two checkpoints in the area between Ifon, Imoru, Ijagba, Ute, and Okeluse in order to reduce the attack of these Fulani herdsmen. Now, many people cannot go to their farms, and whenever you’re going to the farm, you must be looking at both your left and right and front and back because they can attack you at any time with their guns and other weapons.

“The area has become the den of terrorists because there is a big forest reserve behind Okeluse, they use the place as their base and whenever they kidnapped people, they will ask for ransom and once you cannot give them the ransom within two to three days they will kill you. So we have lost about 20 souls in that area in the last two years.

“We have reported these incidents to the state government and the security agencies in the state and the traditional rulers in those communities have held several meetings, but up till now, we have not seen any positive responses from the state government.”

In the same vein, Odeh, a victim, who luckily, was released after the ransom had been paid on him, managed to narrate the scenario, as he was still recuperating from the traumatic experience he had in the devilish camp of the criminal elements. The victim said he was tied with his father, with whom he was kidnapped. He added that they were callously tortured and the father gave up the ghost in the process.

“It was herdsmen that kidnapped us. After we were kidnapped, they used rope to tie my father and me in the bush and they said that if our relatives could not pay the ransom they would kill us there. So later they killed my father, while they received N400,000 before they released me,” he narrated.

However, the Senior Special Assistant to the Ondo State Governor on Security Matters, Alhaji Jimoh Dojumo, said the government was taking steps to tackle the menace. He also disclosed that the government had discovered that some bad eggs in the affected communities are working with the bandits, giving them information. According to him, insecurity is becoming regular as a result of this factor.

He said, “We are aware of what is going on and we are working towards ensuring that our people sleep with their two eyes closed. We are also stepping up our intelligence because we have discovered that there is connivance between these bandits and the local people in that area. But we are already working on that.

“Also I want to tell you that it is not the absence of the governor that is causing the problem, it is the locals that are working with the bandits, but we are dealing with that already.”

Similarly, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Mrs Funmilayo Odunlami, also said the command had been proactive about the protection of lives and property of the people of the state.

“Our men are working round the clock together with other security agencies in the state as well as the vigilante groups to flush out the criminal elements. We only want to appeal to our people to always give us useful information about anybody they suspect or on any criminal hideout, or any criminal activity in their area. We are assuring them of the confidentiality of the information because we can’t do it alone. We need information from the people,” Odunlami said.