The gunmen also reportedly attacked and robbed residents of their money, mobile phones, electronics and other valuables in an incident that had become a subject of investigations by the police.
Gunmen have reportedly stormed Iraye community under Sagamu Local Government Area of Ogun State and killed a 44-year-old security man, Temitope Ariyo on Wednesday.
Eyewitnesses, who narrated the incident, said the armed hoodlums also shot three policemen and injured many other community dwellers.
The gunmen also reportedly attacked and robbed residents of their money, mobile phones, electronics and other valuables in an incident that had become a subject of investigations by the police.
The grieving wife of the deceased man, Beauty Ariyo, called on the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba Alkali, to order a full scale investigation into the attack and ensure that the attackers do not go unpunished.
She said, “On Wednesday, he left our house in Fakale near Sagamu. He told me he was going to Iraye. He left to meet with some of his family members and I went to work myself.
“It was in the evening that they called me that some people had attacked my husband. They reportedly shot him in both legs and used broken glasses to inflict injuries in his face .”
The woman added, “I was also told that the people dragged him on a motorcycle and took him away, when they discovered that he was gasping for breath.
“People should please rise and assist me. I have five children and I cannot take care of them on my own. My husband must not die.”
An eyewitness, 76-year-old Owoduni Bakare, said that he was almost killed by the hoodlums and that he was rescued by a female trader, who rushed him into her house.
Bakare said, “I am from Iraye. I was born and bred here. I went to work in Lagos and returned to the village. I have never seen anything like this in my life. We have a government in Ogun State. The government should step into this matter.
“We were in the village on Wednesday, when many thugs started shooting. People were telling me to run. I insisted that I won’t but a woman, who sells by the roadside hurriedly pulled me and hid me inside her house."
Another eyewitness, Fausat Olatunji, said, “Many of us were playing at the backyard, when we heard gunshots .They initially went down the road and came back to our house.
“By then, we had locked the doors but they broke the window glasses before breaking into our house. They were beating everybody, including my father and my elder brother, who has an eye problem.
"They went straight to where Ariyo was hiding and cut him in the face.
“They dragged him outside and shot him on the two legs. He was struggling to die when one of them who claimed to be his (Ariyo) in-law stood on his head and threatened to kill him.
“Ariyo was pleading with him but the man refused."
Baale of Iraye, Chief Balogun Kalejaiye Habeeb, told newsmen that the latest attack was the second in two years and that the armed hoodlums have taken over the village.
He said, “On Wednesday, 19th of January, 2022 between, 2:00pm and 3:00pm, these hoodlums numbering over two hundred and armed with guns and other dangerous weapons invaded the community and attacked our children, elderly ones and other villagers.
“We have heard rumours that they were coming since last year but only policemen from the Administration section of FCIB Abuja were coming into the town with some of these hoodlums.
“Last Wednesday, the policemen from Abuja said that they were there to inspect a palace but they moved round the village and didn’t find any palace.
“On the 26th June, 2019 these same people brought policemen from the Zonal Intervention Squad, Obada, Abeokuta, shot sporadically into many homes but we insisted that we would not be scared from our ancestral homes.
“The police from Abuja had barely left the village when these armed hoodlums who were led by a certain Otunba Danladi and Ganiu Eleda, Mukaila Actor, Shakiru Shaku Adamo, Kandu Ita Oluwo, Wasiu Epo Saheed Agali started shooting in the village.
“We have all escaped from the village because the hoodlums are there. They kill cow everyday and cook on our ancestral land. The IG should save our lives from this criminal."
A police source at Igode Police Station, who spoke under the condition of anonymity, confirmed the incident and added that a report had already been sent to the state police headquarters in Eleweran, Abeokuta.
However, the police source in confirming the incident said, “We don’t know if the man has been killed or not but we are investigating the attack on the village and we are investigating a case of a missing person.”