How Over 100 Militants invaded Ogun

Imushin community of the Ogijo area of Ogun State have suffered the loss of 15 people after suspected militants, on Friday, invaded the the community, the Punch reports.

The report  came after the Newspaper visited the community yesterday and said about 100 militants stormed the community at about 11pm on Friday, killing anyone in their path and looting businesses in the process.

The Nigerdelta militants threatened to return for more attacks on the unfortunate town.

While speaking to the Punch, a woman, who refused to be named out of fear, alleged that the militants are Ijaw pipeline vandals

“The whole thing began around 4pm on Friday. I was at the backyard of the hotel, cutting some weed when some SARS officers came in. They were shooting and ordering people to stop moving. There was confusion in the hotel.”

“The SARS officials did not leave until after three hours. They killed two of the vandals and took away the owner of the hotel, a woman.”

“Around 10pm, I went to urinate when I saw so many hoodlums coming from the waterside down the road. They carried sophisticated weapons and when they got here, they started shooting. They blew off the hotel windows and shot people dead. They killed two men here in Lapete village.”

A man who lost a friend in the attack described how his friend, an electrician died.

“He was going to urinate when the militants started firing. He tried to quickly shut his door, but it did not jam. They opened fire on him at the door step and did not stop until he dropped dead.”

“Not satisfied, they entered his room and sprayed everywhere with bullets. Waheed’s child, Mariam, that was in the room was hit. She is still at the hospital.”

Explaining his ordeal, a military official who was not on uniform at the time of the attack told Punch that, “I had entered the beer parlour in the hotel when the militants came in. They were about 200. At first, I thought they were having a festival until they ordered all of us to lie flat on the ground.”

“They asked for my two phones and when I gave them one, they became angry. One of them cut my head with a machete and followed it with a bottle. I was drenched in blood. The militants had sophisticated weapons that I had never seen before.”

“They never asked for money from me and they didn’t search my pocket. If they did, they could have found my ID card and I would have been dead. I wore just a white shirt.”

Leaders in the community refused to comment on the unfortunate incident.

A few months before Friday’s attack, a community leader was kidnapped by the militants after he filed reports against them.

Confirming the incident, the Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, said only three persons lost their lives in the bloody attack.

“Around 11pm at Ereko Community, Ogijo, some hoodlums numbering about 100 invaded the community and started shooting sporadically. Bullets hit one Waheed Buhari and his daughter, Mariam. While Buhari died, the daughter is still at the hospital. Two other unidentified corpses were found, making a total of three deaths.”

“Information from eyewitnesses showed that the hoodlums were militants and they came from the riverine area. But we have not confirmed this, as investigations are ongoing. We are particularly interested in why they came in such a large number.”