The chairman of Bunu Hunters in Kabba/Bunu Local Government Area of Kogi State, Caleb Oshe and his son have been killed.
Oshe and his son, Sunday, were reportedly killed by armed herdsmen in the early hours of Tuesday.
Kehinde Adebayo, a native of Ihale Bunu who visit the scene in Suku told this reporter that the slain hunter and his son were shot at while sleeping.
“I just visited the scene. The ODA National President, Barr. Femi Mokikan is here in Suku as well. It is unfortunate that the man was killed by unknown gunmen who are suspected to be Fulanis. They came in around 1:00am and opened fire on him while he was asleep. They killed his first son with him and one other boy living with them sustained injury and he is currently receiving treatment. No offence was said to have been committed by the deceased,” he said.
KogiReports gathered that the attack started in Iluke, another Bunu community in Kabba-Bunu local government area of Kogi state, before the assailants ran to Suku.
The attacks reportedly started on Monday in Iluke around 2am with 3 Fulani herdsmen on motorcycles (Okada) shooting sporadically for about one hour. Fight broke out as men of the community rose against the assailants, the seized and burnt their three motorcycles but the herdsmen ran into the bush.
While the fear of reprisal attacks enveloped Iluke, they heard that the head hunter have been murdered, alongside his son.
In his account, the chairman security committee of Okun Development Association (ODA), Ibrahim Tunde, hunters in the community attempted to apprehend the six assailants but the armed Fulani herdsmen, armed with AK47 opened fire forcing the hunters to retreat.
Ibrahim condemned the spate of unprovoked attacks in Okun communities by herdsmen.
“This unprovoked murder is getting too much,” he lamented.
The state government has condemned the killing, saying those behind it will be apprehended and made to face the law.
In a statement through the Director General of Media and Publicity to the Governor, Kingsley Fanwo, Governor Yahaya Bello described the killings as unacceptable.
He called for restraint as security agencies have been deployed to ensure the arrest of the murderers.
“As the Governor of the State, the security of lives and property is what I have sworn to protect. It is therefore unacceptable to us as a people for anyone to murder our citizens. Every life is important to us and we will stop at nothing to unravel the masterminds of the heinous crime.
“Our administration has placed premium attention on security and it is therefore unfortunate that we still have flashes of such dastardly act.
“It is too early to attribute the killings to anyone and no one should take laws into his or her hands. The late Caleb Osho was not only the head of the Vigilante Group in Suku, but also the person responsible for logging activities in the community. Given the centrality of Suku Community to the politics and economy of the area, we have no choice than to allow security agencies launch a full scale investigation into the circumstances leading to the crime. We will support them to achieve success.
“I directed the State Security Adviser to mobilize security agencies to the place which had been done. Our people must be safe from the pangs of anti-social criminals who will surely lose the battle against our well woven security architecture,” he said.
The Governor warned the people in the affected area not to launch any reprisals; assuring them that the security agents on ground have all it takes, not only to protect them, but to also apprehend the murderers.
