Less than two days after three church worshippers were killed and 15 others abducted at a prayer ground in Ekiti LGA of Kwara state, notorious armed men have abducted a further 10 individuals from the Yashikira Emir’s palace in Baruten LGA of the state.
A.statement by spokesperson of the Kwara police command, Adetoun Ejire-Adeyemi, stated that the gunmen attacked the palace and the Yashikira police station at the same time around 2am on Monday.
“The armed criminals, in a coordinated and desperate assault at about 0200hrs, simultaneously attacked the Yashikira Police Divisional Headquarters and the Palace of the Emir of Yashikira,” reads the statement.
“During the attack, part of the palace was set ablaze, while ten people were abducted and taken to an unknown destination. However, the attack on the police station was successfully repelled by police operatives on duty.”
The command said commissioner of police,bOjo Adekimi, has ordered for a full-scale, intelligence-driven tactical operation involving the police, military, forest guards, vigilantes, and other security stakeholders to comb surrounding forests and suspected criminal hideouts with the objective of rescuing the victims unhurt.
The commissioner sent out a warning that the police would not submit to threats, intimidation, or acts of terror created by bandits and criminal elements operating within any part of the state.
“The command remains battle-ready and fully determined to confront these enemies of peace with every lawful operational asset and strategy at its disposal,” he said.
“These criminals have declared war against peace-loving citizens, and we are fully prepared to hunt them down relentlessly.
“We will deploy everything within our operational capacity to smoke them out of hiding, dismantle their networks, rescue all abducted victims, and ensure they face the full wrath of the law.”
Residents of Yashikira, Baruten LGA, and the entire Kwara state have been assured by the commissioner of police that security operations have been intensified across vulnerable areas.
It pointed out that surveillance, intelligence gathering, and aggressive bush-combing operations are going on.
