Armed men suspected to be ethnic militias have reportedly invaded Imariogha community in Ovia South West Local Government of Edo State, killed one person and set houses and cars ablaze.
Newspot reports that the Edo State Commissioner of Police, Funsho Adegboye, who confirmed the attack, said a team of security personnel has been drafted to the affected community.
Newspot learnt that the armed men who invaded the community on Sunday night referred to themselves as Ijaw freedom fighters.
It was learnt that the community is close to the Okomu oil palm plantation.
A source who was close to the community and who pleaded anonymity alleged that the gunmen entered the community through the riverside and started sporadic shooting, killed one person and left a note of their demands on his chest.
He alleged that the said note was addressed to the Edo State governor, Godwin Obaseki and the Okomu Oil Company.
He listed some of the demands of the suspected militias from the management of Okomu Oil Palm Plc, including a directorship position in the company and 25 per cent of the company’s shares, among others.
The source added that the gunmen made it clear that they were not fighting security personnel but Okomu Oil Company.
He also added that one of the chiefs in the community, Pa Gabriel Okorugbe, who received a machete cut, has been hospitalised, while several vehicles and houses were set ablaze by the rampaging gunmen.
The Commissioner of Police in the state said: “We are already holding talks in partnership with sister security organisations and the Okomu oil palm company to arrest the situation.”
Newspot recalls that gunmen recently killed three staff of the palm oil company last week while they were working at the plantation.
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