Gunmen Kill Village Head, Abduct Retired Customs Officer in Osun

Community in Panic as Assailants Escape into Bush Along Osun–Kwara Boundary

A community on the Osun–Kwara boundary, Ora, was thrown into panic on Monday following a deadly attack by suspected gunmen.

PUNCH Metro learnt on Tuesday that the attack claimed the life of a village head, identified simply as Dennis, while a retired Customs officer, Emmanuel Owolabi, was abducted.

Residents who spoke with our correspondent said the abduction caused widespread fear, forcing people to flee in different directions as the assailants escaped into the bush with the victim.

The victim’s wife, Titilayo, told PUNCH Metro that the incident occurred in front of Owolabi’s residence on Akisa Road, Ora, Osun State, a few minutes before 7:00 p.m.

Narrating the incident, Titilayo said her husband had visited her shop shortly after she closed for the day. While he proceeded to another location in the town, she returned home to prepare dinner.

She explained that after cooking and while waiting for her husband to return, she heard gunshots at the entrance of their compound.

When I closed my shop around 6:30 p.m., my husband came around and asked me to go home. When I got home, I cooked and was about to serve my children when I heard a gunshot.

At first, I thought the shots were from hunters who sometimes come around the area, but the gunshots soon became sporadic. Later, I heard my husband’s voice outside our fence,” she said.

Titilayo added that she did not realise her husband was being held by bandits when she stepped outside to find out what was happening.

One of the gunmen jumped over the fence into our compound. Those I saw were young boys. I knelt and spoke Hausa to him because they were speaking Hausa. Instead of responding, he started beating me.

He asked me for money. While all this was going on, they were firing shots. The next thing I heard was the sound of a motorcycle conveying my husband into the bush.

The two gunmen in our compound then jumped over the fence into the bush and fled. My husband is a retired Customs officer. People should help us bring him back home safely,” she pleaded.

Sources in the community, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the incident, disclosed that while fleeing the area, the gunmen shot dead a village chief, identified simply as Dennis, who was returning from his farm.

When contacted on Tuesday, the Osun State Police Command spokesperson, Abiodun Ojelabi, confirmed the incident, noting that additional security operatives had been deployed to comb the surrounding bush.

Immediately after the incident occurred, police operatives and other volunteers chased after the gunmen.

We are working hard to rescue the victim. One person was shot, but not in Osun State. The location where he was killed falls within Kwara State,” Ojelabi said.