A middle aged man, simply identified as Olukoju, a resident of Ajowa Akoko, Akoko North West Local Government of Ondo State, has been reportedly shot, while trying to escape being kidnapped by unknown gunmen suspected to be bandits.
The bandits, it was gathered had laid an ambush on the road, while the victim who was travelling between Ajowa Akoko/ Akunnu road ran into them and tried to run away from the bandits.
It was also gathered that Olukoju was travelling on a motorcycle, parked and took to his heel on sighting the bandits, but later ran into some other members of the kidnappers gang, who shot him from behind after he failed to stop.
According to a source, Olukoju was returning to his station in Obajana to resume duty.
It was however gathered that the lifeless body of Olukoju was discovered by some travellers returning from Abuja in his pool of blood, who reported the incident at the police station.
The source said some policemen from the area and soldiers visited the scene of the incident and combed the area but no arrest was made while the remains of the deceased was deposited at the morgue.
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Speaking on the incident, Soji Ogedengbe, a concerned resident lamented the incessant killings in the community, saying many residents of the community had been kidnapped and killed in the last few months.
Ogedengbe said the leadership of the community has put in place several measures to curtail the activities of the criminals through communal security arrangements but said bandits never stopped terrorizing the people of the area.
He disclosed that farmers in area had stopped going to farm and called security agencies and Amotekun in the state to come to the aid of the people of the area, saying the bandits always come to Akoko from Kogi, being a border town.
He said that the influx of the heavily armed herdsmen to that area is making life miserable for farmers and the inhabitants of the area.
The Area Police Commander, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Muri Agboola who confirmed the incident said detectives from the command had been deployed into the forest to arrest the killer of the deceased.
