JUST IN: Panic as Communities Flee After Failed Kidnap Attempt Leaves 6 Dead

MOUTHPIECE NGR reports that residents of Fowowawo, Ajerogun, and Magbon-Etido communities in Obafemi-Owode LGA, Ogun State, have fled their homes following a failed kidnap attempt that left six people dead on Monday.

A visit to the communities Wednesday showed several houses and shops locked, with business activities drastically reduced.

Suspected kidnappers invaded a dredging site in the early hours of Monday to abduct a Chinese national. The operation failed after soldiers and local hunters engaged them.

Ogun Police Command confirmed the attack killed a soldier, a local hunter, and four others. Police spokesman Babaseyi Oluseyi said one of the kidnappers was also killed during a gunfight with security operatives.

Many houses appeared deserted, while residents who remained expressed fear of another attack. The communities are linked to Ofada, where the nearest police post is located, by a deplorable road that residents say hampers security response.

A local hunter who joined the response said about five gunmen carried out the operation. He said the hunters walked into an ambush and fired a shot to alert themselves before the gunmen opened fire.

“We were informed that some boys were fighting, and our Baale called us to go there,” he said. “When we got there, we were in the midst of the kidnappers. There were five. The Agbekoya that was among us shot into the air so that we could know where they were, but they responded by firing at us. It was a bullet from their gunfire that hit one guy called Ewe.”

He said security forces arrived four hours after they called for help. “When we came out to call for support at about 2pm, the security forces did not arrive until about 6pm. When we got back to the scene, Ewe had already died.”

Baale of Ajerogun, Nurudeen Salisu, said the gunmen killed a soldier, injured another, and abducted four people when they found soldiers securing the dredging site. He said they later killed three of the abductees and two community members who tried to ambush them.

“An incident like this happened about three years ago when some workers at the dredging site were kidnapped. They were released after a ransom of N5m was paid,” Salisu said. “It was a Chinese man who joined them about a year ago who was the target.”

He said one escaped victim identified the attackers as suspected Fulani gunmen, and that soldiers killed one kidnapper.

Salisu faulted the police response, saying the first eight officers arrived with only one gun. “Our local hunters were not adequately armed either. The road is also not good, which was the excuse they gave, and it is understandable because the road is bad,” he said.

“Most people who lived here have left their homes. Many people have packed up their families and left the community. I am just appealing to them to return because the situation is under control,” he added.

Chairman of the Agbekoya group in Fowowawo, Musbau Adenekan, said the incident threw the community into panic.

The police command said the attack was not related to banditry and that efforts were ongoing to arrest fleeing suspects.