Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has confirmed the terrorists’ attack and killing of five forest guards by suspected bandits in the state.
Akelicious has earlier reported that the bandits had stormed the National Park Office at Oloka village, opening fire at the forest guards.
While the total number of casualties was initially unconfirmed, Makinde in a statement issued on Wednesday on his Facebook page confirmed the death of five personnel.
According to the governor, preliminary investigation revealed the attack was a cross-border attack carried out by the bandits.
While mourning the demise of the personnel, Makinde urged residents of the border community to remain calm and corporate with security agencies currently working to address the incident.
The statement read; “Earlier today, there was a criminal attack by bandits at the National Park Office, Oloka Village which resulted in the death of five National Park Service Forest Guard Officers.
“This is a devastating loss of the lives of personnel in the course of carrying out their lawful duties. May their souls rest in peace.
“Preliminary investigations by the security agencies indicate that this was a cross-border attack carried out by bandits.
“The security agencies are already working together to address this incident and seek the support of residents in the area to cooperate with them in their intelligence gathering.
“Let me appeal to residents of Oyo State especially those in Oriire LGA and other LGAs along our borders, to remain calm as the security agencies have restored normalcy and deployed more personnel to the area.
“Our administration will leave no stone unturned to respond decisively to prevent a recurrence of such attacks.”
