Ondo attack: Survivors recount ordeals

• CP visits scene, deploys homicide team

Survivors of the bandit attack on ‘Aba Sunday,’ a farming settlement in one of Ondo State’s agrarian belts, are still reeling from the devastating attack that left several people dead on the midnight of Saturday.

While recounting the harrowing details of the attack in the community, which borders Edo State in Akure North Local Council of Ondo State, the survivors disclosed that bandits who they described as armed herders stormed the community in the dead of the night unprovoked.
 
Four communities identified as Aba Pastor, Aba Sunday, Ademekun Camp and Aba Alajido Camp within Ala Elefosan were invaded and attacked with scores of farmers killed in the midnight attack.

The survivors, who are still recuperating at a medical facility, stated that the attackers left a trail of destruction in their wake. According to them, many residents were forced to flee into the surrounding forests, while others were not as fortunate.
 
One of the survivors, identified simply as John, said he was shot in one of his hands. He revealed that at least nine bodies were retrieved, adding that the bandits operated 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,” he added.

Another survivor, Solomon Simon, said: “The attack happened around 2:00 am. I was not deep asleep. They made a kind of a very loud call before they began to open fire all round the camp.
 
“I summoned courage to flee the house before they could get to my own place. But two of my friends could not make it as well and were killed in the house. They are herdsmen. We were able to retrieve nine bodies.”
 
Meanwhile, the state’s Commissioner of Police, Afolabi Wilfred, who visited the scene of the attack and the surviving victims, 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.