The Headquarters of the Nigerian Army has directed the General Officer Commanding, GOC, 2 Division, Ibadan, to relocate to Kwara State following Sunday’s attack on Ogba-Ayo community in Oke-Ode town.
Scores were killed including forest guards and others abducted in the attack by armed bandits who invaded the community in the early hours of Sunday.
A statement released by the Kwara State government on Sunday said the development is in response to Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq’s request for increased security deployment to rout the criminals involved in attacks in parts of the state.
The statement signed by Rafiu Ajakaye, spokesman of the governor, noted that following the attack on Oke Ode,
Abdulrazaq said the state requires more military deployment to check the activities of criminals in parts of Kwara South and Kwara North.
The governor regretted the loss of innocent civilians and the forest guards, who mounted a spirited resistance to the assailants in the early morning incident.
“My heartfelt condolences go to the families. No word can adequately capture the depth of my sadness and nothing can compensate the bereaved families over these incidents, in spite of our efforts and the investments in enlisting and training the forest guards to bolster the conventional forces.
“Our people are understandably concerned about the situation, and I wholeheartedly share in this grief.
“While we appreciate the efforts and unquantifiable sacrifices of the security forces as well as the successes so far, we definitely need to do a lot more until we are completely out of the wood.
“Finally, I urge our brave residents to remain calm and avoid the temptation to turn on ourselves. I equally commend all the forest guards and the local hunters who, though lost five of their compatriots, equally neutralised several of the attackers. We will forever be grateful to all of them as our heroes,” the governor said.
The statement added that the Army Headquarters has directed the GOC, 2 Division, Ibadan, to immediately relocate to Kwara to further coordinate and boost military response to the development.
