Gov. Abiodun visits victims of herdsmen attacks, sets up Special Task Force to quell crisis
Bankole Taiwo, Abeokuta
Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State on Monday evening visited Oja Odan community in Yewa North Local Government Area of the state to sympathize with the people and families of those that lost loved ones and property to the alleged killings and destruction perpetrated by persons suspected to be armed wielding herdsmen.
Abiodun assured them of government’s efforts at securing their lives and resolving the farmers-herders crisis, saying Special Task Force(STF) has been constituted to police their community and ward off any invaders.
Oja Odan, Igbooro and dozens of communities in Yewa-Ketu area of state happen to be the epicentre of sustained attacks, destructions and killings by suspected armed herdsmen in recent times.
No fewer than eight persons have reportedly been killed by armed herders while a good number of the villagers also received varying degrees of injury during the invasion by the attackers.
The governor was received in Oja Odan by the Olu of Ilaro and Paramount ruler of Yewaland, Oba Kehinde Olugbenle, the Eselu of Iselu, Oba Ebenezer Akinyemi, the youths and community leaders.
Addressing the large gathering of the people at the ever busy Oja Odan junction, Abiodun said a Special Task Force(STF) comprising soldiers, Police, Operatives of Department of State Security (DSS), Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps(NSCDC) and hunters had been assembled and would be deployed to their communities to protect them.
According to him, the STF would commence operations on Tuesday or Wednesday this week.
The governor also assured of compensation for those who lost property, support for others that whose loved ones were killed while the hospital bill of any in hospital on account of the attacks would be taken up by the state government.
At Igbooro where the villagers came under heavy attack on Friday night, the traditional ruler (Baale), Tajudeen Korede, told the governor that four members of community lost their lives to the suspected herdsmen while nine others are still in the hospital receiving treatment from injuries.
He appealed to the governor to station security operatives in Igbooro to enable the villagers who fled in the wake of the invasion, come back.
