Barely 24 hours after Eruku town bandits attack, another group of bandits have launched yet another attack in Kwara State, abducting four rice farmers in Bokungi village in Edu Local Government Area of the state.
The latest attack happened on Wednesday evening between 6.30 p.m and 7.00 p.m when the rice farmers were working on their farms.
In the first assault it was gathered two farmers were abducted while they were packaging their harvested rice.
Moments later, another two individuals were kidnapped from a neighboring farm, bringing the total number of victims to four.
The coordinated nature of the attack according to sources close to the village has heightened fears among residents of the community
It was gathered that, the suspected bandits were said to have invaded the farms and started shooting sporadically before they were abducted by the bandits.
The suspected bandits it was further learnt were said to have taken their victims into bush but they are yet to ask for payment of ransom from the families of the abducted victims.
Some of the residents of Bokungi village in Edu local government area of the state who spoke with THISDAY on Thursday in Ilorin described the repeated attacks in the area as alarming and called on security agencies to intensify operations across the Lafiagi–Bokungi axis to prevent further abductions.
According to them, “We want to inform you that we cannot sleep with our two eyes again talkless of going to our farms again”.
They said that, the ugly development has continued to create fear among the residents of Bokungi village because of the incessant bandits attack on the people of the village.
The residents therefore called for Federal and State Governments to rise up to the occasion so as to bring lasting peace to the area.
Contacted, a senior police officer at Edu Divisional Police Headquarters at Lafaji who sought anonymity confirmed the incident said that, “We are working round the clock to ensure the rescue of the rice farmers while the state police command has been briefed for further reinforcement”.
She however called on the residents to continue to give relevant information that would assist the police to fish out the perpetrators of the act in the area.
Hammed Shittu
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