WorldStage– Twelve people have been reportedly killed by gunmen suspected to be bandits when they attacked Hybrid Force camp in Oke Ode, a farming community in Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara State on Sunday .
It was gathered that the attack occurred at about 8:50 a.m. when the gunmen stormed the community.
Sources said a decisive counter-terror operation was immediately launched by the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) as it dispatched a fighter jet to support ground forces.
Troops from a patrol base in Babanla were said to have been mobilised to the scene, but the attackers fled before their arrival.
A search of the area by the troops was said to have led to the discovery of 12 lifeless bodies comprising nine vigilantes and three civilians killed during the attack.
The corpses of the deceased were also said to have been evacuated to Oke Ode Police Station while troops restored calm in the area.
Sources said the general security situation in the area remained calm but unpredictable.
It was gathered that the jet, mobilised from a nearby operational base, provided Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) cover to aid the troops who engaged the attackers in coordinated ground operations.
Eyewitnesses were quoted to have said that the assailants moved in large numbers, shooting indiscriminately and setting off panic across the community.
Some Kwara State’s communities have consistently come under bandits’ attack in recent time, while concerned citizens of the state have been appealing to the Federal Government to move military operational base to the state to curb the surge.
