Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
A night guard has been shot dead by armed robbers at Akobo Oju-Irin, a community in Lagelu Local Government Area of Oyo State.
The night guard was said to have been killed by the armed robbers, numbering about 15 when they invaded Akobo at about 2 a.m. on Saturday. But the identity of the deceased night guard has not been revealed.
The hoodlums were said to have also injured many residents and 12-night guards in areas that include Yawiri, Idi-isin, Tella, Anifalaje, Apata, Iyana Akanni, and Oju-Irin, all in Akobo, where the robbers operated for several hours.
The bloodstain allegedly of the night guard reportedly shot dead at Akobo Oju-Irin was shown to journalists around the transformer in the area.
A landlord at Idi-isin, who preferred anonymity stated that the robbers came in Micra Nissan car and raided many houses in Yawiri area before proceeded to other areas of the community.
According to him, one night guard was killed around Oju-Irin and two security guards, who were instructed to man a transformer at Idi-Isin were brutally wounded with machete for preventing the them from carting away electrical wires from the transformer.
According to him, the residents alerted police officers on duty at Akobo police station when they noticed the arrival of the robbers, but there was no response from the police, until around 6am.
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the state, Gbenga Fadeyi, confirmed that some night guards were attacked, saying: “They ran away before the arrival of the police in the area. Efforts are being intensified to clamp down on the hoodlums that carried out the evil act.
“Information available to me has it that the night guards that were attacked sustained injury but rescued by the police to University College Hospital (UCH), and now responding to treatment. No guard was killed.”
But a statement issued on Sunday by the landlords association of the Idi-Isin tagged: ‘Security situation is worrisome in Akobo Oju Irin and Environ,” stated that the spate of armed robbery attacks on the residents of the area had become worrisome.
“For sometimes now, the residents of Akobo Ojuirin, Yawiri, Idi-Isin and its environs have not been sleeping with their two eyes closed. Armed robbers have been attacking the residents on the daily basis, beating the people, collecting money, phones, laptops, maiming and even killing the innocent people.
“In the early hour of Saturday, a young watch night man was sent to his early grave at Oju Irin by the heartless men of underworld. Our people are now living in fear as we don’t know the next target of these evil-minded people. It is very sad that police at the Akobo police station who are suppose to respond to distress call at the hour of need in the night, will arrive the scene hours after the robbers must have left.
“There is a need for government to have a second look at their approach to security for the people in these mentioned areas,” the statement read in part.