bout 10 suspected bandits have reportedly killed three persons and abducted 15 others in an attack on worshippers at Ori-Oke Ajaiye, in the outskirts of Ikiran village of Ekiti Local Government Area of Kwara State.
THISDAY checks revealed that the attack occurred on Saturday while the worshippers were observing night vigil at about 20:30p.m.
It was further learnt that the development led many worshippers to run for safety following the bandits’ invasion at the praying ground.
Confirming the ugly development to newsmen in Ilorin yesterday, the state Police Commissioner, Mr. Adekimi Ojo, stated:”The incident was reported on 24th May, 2026, by one Pastor Adebayo Abiodun of Ijo Ajaiye Ati Igbala, Ekerin Village, Ekiti LGA Kwara State.”
Ojo stated that while conducting a night vigil alongside members of his congregation at Ori-Oke Ijaye via Ekerin village, on 23rd May, 2026, at about 2030hrs, armed hoodlums invaded the prayer ground, firing sporadically, killing three persons while abducting fifteen others to an unknown destination.
He said: “Upon receipt of the distress report, the Divisional Police Officer, Ekiti Division, immediately mobilised operatives to the scene.
“A comprehensive tactical and intelligence-driven operation involving the Police Drone Team, PMF personnel, intelligence units and other operational assets for a coordinated rescue mission, has been directed.”
The CP described the attack as barbaric, callous and unacceptable, assuring the families of the deceased, the injured, and the abducted victims that the command was fully committed to ensuring the rescue of all abductees and apprehension of the perpetrators behind the heinous act.
The command assured residents of Ekiti LGA and the entire state that vigorous efforts are ongoing, including bush combing, intelligence gathering and coordinated security operations, to track down the assailants and bring them to justice.
He further urged members of the public to remain calm, vigilant and supportive by providing credible and timely information that could assist ongoing operations.
Meanwhile, Niger State Governor, Alhaji Mohammed Umaru Bago, has approved the deployment of drones to combat terrorists and bandits hibernating in forests around the state.
The Commissioner for Investments, Alhaji Aminu Sulaiman Takuma, who disclosed this while speaking to newsmen in Minna, said the step is to ensure the forests are sanitised to encourage potential foreign and local investors to invest in the state.
Niger State is surrounded, among others, by Kainji Kagara Shiroro forests from where terrorists and bandits have been wrecking havoc on the people of the state and also scaring away investors.
However, Takuma said: “All these will soon be over as the state will be made conducive for investors after the terrorists have been flushed out
“There will be no more hiding place for bandits and terrorists anywhere in the state.”
He disclosed that a gold mining and processing factory will be established in the state, adding that government has already secured the commitment of an Australian firm to fund the project but did not disclose where factory will be located and its cost.
To boost the industrial development of the state, the commissioner said government is also deliberately focusing on the provision of infrastructure in all parts of the state, saying this would ease the movement of goods and services.
He disclosed that government is currently engaging investors for both aeronautical and non-aeronautical services at the Ahmed Bola Tinubu International Airport in Minna, adding that the state government had also taken over the management of the Baro ports.
However, he noted that the issue of dredging of the port has now been put aside.
Takuma explained that ships from Port Harcourt and Warri will now offload their goods at Baro from where they would now be transported across the states in the northern part of the country.
The commissioner disclosed that after a study tour of Zambia, Zimbabwe and Kenya the state government had decided to also establish a seed development company in the three senatorial zones to protect farmers harvest thereby improving their incomes.
Takuma said Niger State possesses enormous economic potential across agriculture, mining, transportation and industrial sectors and therefore, urged investors to take advantage of these potential to expand their businesses.
(FROM: THISDAY)
