Newsbreak: Armed men sack Kogi village, kill scores

By Samuel Ogunsona

Scores of people including women and children were on Friday morning killed by armed men suspected to be terrorists.

The invaders stormed Agojeju Odo community in Omala Local Government area in the early hours of Friday. They also burnt down several houses.

Eyewitnesses told Irohinoodua that the number of people killed remain uncertain but are surely in two digits.

Many people are feared dead and houses destroyed after an attack by gunmen in Agojeju-Odo community, Omala LGA of Kogi state.

“They came in large numbers. They started shooting sporadically into the air. People who could not run were shot dead. Some people were also kidnapped” Mr Caleb Oni who live in the community told our correspondent.

He said for some years the community had battled to drive away the armed men from the forest without success.

He also blamed some local chiefs who have been selling the ancestral land of the community to the terrorists or their proxies.

The Kogi police command had confirmed the incident.

A top Police officer who does not wish to be named told Irohinoodua that the State Police Commissioner, Bethrand Onuoha, has deployed a tactical team to the community to dislodge the armed men and possibly arrest them.

The source said Kogi would not tolerate armed banditry and could do everything possible to stem terrorism in the state.

The spokesperson, Kogi State Police command William Aya said “There was an attack in the village in Omala. The CP has deployed the enforcement team along with other security agencies,” the police spokesperson Aya said.

He spoke further “An investigation is ongoing to ascertain the cause of the attack and to unravel the perpetrators.”