Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, Hon. Durosinmi Meseko, has strongly condemned the recent barbaric attack by bandits on the Iluke Community in Kabba/Bunu Local Government Area.
The invasion, which has left the local community in deep mourning, resulted in the tragic loss of three lives and widespread panic among residents.
Expressing heavy grief over the incident, Hon. Meseko described the assault as a “barbaric and senseless plundering of our communities,” adding that his heart bleeds for the families who have lost loved ones to these unprovoked acts of violence.
He however, lauded the prompt reaction of security agencies to the attack which prevented a mass abduction of students sitting for the WAEC examinations and resulted in neutralising some of the armed bandits.
The attack on Iluke is part of a deeply worrying spike in insecurity across the Okun-speaking region of Kogi State. In recent times, several sister communities in Bunuland and the broader Okunland have increasingly become targets for armed groups.
Communities such as Ayegunle Bunu, along with various vulnerable settlements across Kabba/Bunu and neighboring areas, have suffered a wave of:
Violent abductions with bandits targeting commuters and community leaders for ransom.
Sudden fatal night attacks on villages, disrupting agrarian local economies.
Infiltration of Forest Reserves with criminal networks using the dense vegetation of Kogi West to launch hit-and-run attacks.
Despite the severity of the challenge, Hon. Meseko maintained an uncompromising stance against the attackers. He asserted that the ancestral lands of the Okun people would never be surrendered to criminal elements under intimidation.
”No matter what, we will never give up our land to these blood-thirsty buccaneers.”, he declared.
The former lawmaker appreciated the Federal and Kogi State governments for their commitment gto security but firmly pleaded for more concerted and strategic efforts to finally bring an end to this scourge in Bunuland. He emphasized that the current containment measures must be scaled up to aggressive, intelligence-led operations to root out the bandits from their forest hideouts.
Closing his statement on a resilient note, Hon. Meseko reiterated his firm conviction that the affected communities would outlast the terror. He assured citizens that Okunland shall overcome and emerge from this persistent onslaught stronger, more unified, and more prosperous than ever before.
