”Were resolved to defend our people” South-West govs.
Barely a week after the chairman of Amotekun Corps in the State, Ajibola Togun, raised an alarm that some herders were planning to unleash terror on the six States across the South-West, suspected herdsmen in a fresh attack yesterday morning killed no fewer than 20 residents of Igangan in Oyo State.
According to reports, the gunmen reportedly struck the community at midnight, killing, maiming and ultimately setting houses ablaze, including the palace of the monarch in the agrarian town and a filling station.
The community is home to Sunday Igboho, a separatist agitator pushing for Yoruba secession from Nigeria. Igboho held a rally in the community recently that turned violent. He denied culpability in the mayhem that left many killed and assets destroyed.
A resident said that the attackers came with 20 motorcycles around 11:00 pm and started stabbing and shooting residents.
The State governor, Seyi Makinde, who confirmed the attack on Twitter yesterday, described the attack as shocking and urging residents to remain calm as security operatives have been mobilised to the community to restore order.
A spokesman for the State’s Police Command in Ibadan did not immediately return a request seeking comments about the attack.
Speaking shortly after news of the killings and destruction filtered in, with gory videos of the massacre, the Chairman of the South-West Governors Forum and Ondo State governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, condemned the attack.
In a statement the governor issued yesterday, Akeredolu described the incident as horrendous, callous, and highly provocative, saying all well-meaning Nigerians must condemn in the strongest term possible this latest assault on decency and communal harmony.
