www.punchng.com/100-militants-invade-ogun-community-kill-15/


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The Imushin community in the Ogijo area
of Ogun State has been thrown into
mourning after no fewer than 15
residents were reportedly killed on Friday
evening by armed men suspected to be
militants.
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SUNDAY PUNCH learnt that about 100
militants, armed with guns and cutlasses,
stormed the community around 11pm on
Friday and embarked on a killing spree,
killing every resident in sight.
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When our correspondent visited the
community on Saturday, he saw a few of
the corpses which their families were
preparing for burial in accordance with
Islamic rites.
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Among the 15 killed was a technician,
Waheed Buhari, aka Yah Alau, who was
shot dead in front of his room.
One of his children, Mariam, sustained
bullet wounds.
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A travel agent, Mr. Oladele Ogundare, was
said to be returning home in his car, when
the rampaging militants opened fire on
his car and killed him.
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Another resident, Umoru, who was said to
be eating noodles, was chased, hacked and
shot to death, along with a friend,
Danladi.
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A mosque in the community, was
reportedly attacked and a Muslim cleric
killed.
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Two hotels were said to have also been
raided and their customers robbed and
injured.
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More than 25 shops in the community
were looted by the militants.
Many of the residents, who spoke with
SUNDAY PUNCH, begged not to be
identified as the militants had threatened
to return to continue the killing.
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A resident told our correspondent the
militants were suspected to be Ijaw
youths involved in pipeline vandalism.
She explained that they were on a
revenge mission as some operatives of
the State Anti-Robbery Squad had killed
two of the vandals earlier on Friday.
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She said, “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.
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“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.
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“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.”
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A friend of Waheed, the electrician killed
in Oke Muti, said the Ilorin, Kwara State
indigene had tried to shut his door when
the militants killed him.
Waheed’s corpse was still lying in a room
and being prepared for burial when
SUNDAY PUNCH visited.
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His friend said, “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.
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“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.”
He added that the police recovered 15
corpses in the community.
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The widow of the travel agent killed in the
Ereko area of the community said her
husband, Oladele, who worked on Victoria
Island, Lagos State, had left for work in his
car on Friday morning without any
foreboding.
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She said, “He gave me money for
foodstuffs after dropping me off in front
of a bank where I wanted to do a
transaction. By 6pm, we spoke and he
asked me to prepare rice for him that
night.
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“By 10pm, I called his line; it rang and he
didn’t pick. I tried it again at 12am, still no
response. I called his mother by 6am that
I had not been able to reach him on his
two telephone lines and she promised to
call as well. She also couldn’t get to him.
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“It was this morning (Saturday) that I saw a
crowd of people in my house. They said
he was a short distance from home when
he was shot dead. I can’t believe this
because we have barely spent a year in
this community and this has never
happened before.”
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Some customers at the Catcher Hotel
were lucky to have escaped with their
lives.
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However, the hoodlums carted away all
the valuables in the hotel and vandalised
all the electronic gadgets.
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A soldier, who was not in uniform at the
time of the attack, said the vandals cut
him with a cutlass and smashed bottles on
his head.
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He said, “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.
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“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.
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“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.”
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A disc jockey at the hotel said one of the
militants wanted to shoot him dead, but
one of them persuaded him against it.
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“They were arguing among themselves
whether or not to kill me. One said, ‘If
you don’t want me to kill him, then let me
cut off his leg.’ But his colleague asked
him not to. Before I knew it, he had
smashed three bottles on my head.
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“They went away with my laptop, phones,
money and everything I had. They refused
to carry away the beers in the hotel. They
took only the hard drinks,” he said.
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Women in the hotel, who claimed that the
militants spent about 30 minutes, said
they tortured them with cutlasses and
guns.
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Efforts to speak with community leaders
were abortive as they declined comment.
It was gathered that a community leader
had been abducted by the militants a few
months ago, after reporting a case against
them at a station.
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A source said, “The man was in the creek
for 40 days. The militants collected N10m
from the community before he was
released. That is why everybody is afraid
to talk. People have started fleeing the
community. Two Hausas were killed
during this attack and the Hausa
community has vowed to fight back.”
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A man, who spoke for the Imushin
community, pleaded with the government
to intervene before the community was
completely deserted.
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He said, “These people are militants and
even the police cannot withstand their
firepower. We need help from the
government. We will appreciate anything
they can do for us.”
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The Ogun State Police Public Relations
Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, confirmed the
attack, but said only three people were
killed.
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He said, “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.
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“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.”

Lol.

I love sitting on front seat.

U surely will see everything as it unfolds