Survivors of Ondo bandits attack recount ordeal

Victims of the attack on four communities in the Akure North Local Government Area of Ondo State have recounted the horrifying details of their ordeal during the attack by some bandits that left several people dead at midnight on Saturday.

Two of the survivors, Solomon and John Simon, from one of the farm settlements, Aba Sunday, said the assailants invaded the community in the early hours of Saturday morning, killing innocent people.

While recounting the harrowing experience, John, who was shot in one of his hands, said he counted nine dead bodies while he was in a pool of blood, saying that the bandits operated for hours unchallenged without mercy.

He said, “I was sleeping when I heard gunshots. It was when I suddenly woke up that I realised that the person who was sleeping beside me had already been shot. It was in the process of me trying to escape that I was shot in the hand.

“I was able to run into the bush before entering a cocoa plantation where I was able to hide till daybreak. I struggled with the hand that was shot, and I made it back in the morning, where I was quickly rushed to the hospital. Nine people were killed in our camp.

“Those that I saw are Fulani people. This is my fourth year in Sunday Camp, and we have never, for once, killed any of the cows belonging to Fulani people, so we did not understand the reason for the attack.”

Also narrating his experience, Solomon Simeon, a brother to John, said, “The attack happened around 2am. I was not deeply asleep. They made a kind of very loud call before they began to open fire all around the camp.

“I summoned the courage to flee the house before they could get to my place. But two of my friends could not make it and they were killed inside the house. These men are herdsmen. We were able to retrieve nine bodies.”

Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police in the state, Afolabi Wilfred, who visited the scene of the attack and the surviving victims at the hospital, had ordered the deployment of the command’s homicide department to the area.

While conducting an on-the-spot visit, Afolabi urged members of the public to promptly inform the police of incidents as they occur and verify reports before dissemination to avoid causing panic in the state.

It will be recalled that four communities from Akure North, which include Aba Pastor, Aba Sunday, Ademekun Camp, and Aba Alajido Camp within Ala Elefosan, were invaded and attacked by some armed men, killing the residents during the midnight attack.

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