By John Paul
Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has confirmed that suspected bandits have attacked the National Park Office in Oloka Village, killing five forest guards of the National Park Service.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, January 7, Makinde described the attack as a tragic and devastating loss, noting that the officers were killed while carrying out their lawful duties.
“Earlier today, there was a criminal attack by bandits at the National Park Office, Oloka Village, which resulted in the death of five National Park Service Forest Guard officers,” the governor said. “This is a devastating loss of lives in the course of lawful duty. May their souls rest in peace.”
The governor disclosed that preliminary investigations by security agencies indicate that the attack was cross-border in nature, suggesting that the assailants infiltrated the area from outside Oyo State.
He assured residents that security agencies are already working in concert to track down the perpetrators and prevent further attacks, while appealing to communities in the area to support ongoing intelligence-gathering efforts.
Makinde urged residents, particularly those in Oriire Local Government Area and other border communities, to remain calm, stressing that normalcy has been restored with the deployment of additional security personnel to the affected areas.
“I want to appeal to residents of Oyo State, especially those in Oriire LGA and other local governments along our borders, to remain calm as the security agencies have restored normalcy and deployed more personnel,” he said.
Vowing decisive action, the governor said his administration would leave no stone unturned to ensure the safety of lives and property and to prevent a recurrence of such attacks in the state.
“Our administration will respond decisively and will leave no stone unturned to ensure that this kind of attack does not happen again,” Makinde pledged.