The police have confirmed a terrorist attack on a police station and the palace of a traditional ruler in Yashikira, Kaiama Local Government Area of Kwara State.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that the terrorists abducted 10 persons and set part of the palace ablaze in the incident.
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The attack, which occurred in the early hours of Monday, targeted the Yashikira Police Divisional Headquarters and the palace of the Emir of Yashikira simultaneously, according to the police.
In a statement issued on Monday, the state police command’s spokesperson, Adetoun Ejire-Adeyemi, said the assault on the police facility “was successfully repelled” by officers on duty.
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However, she said the assailants abducted 10 persons before fleeing to an unknown destination.
The police spokesperson described the incident as a “cowardly and audacious attack” carried out by suspected “bandits.”
She said the Commissioner of Police in the state, Ojo Adekimi, ordered “a full-scale intelligence-driven tactical” operation involving the police, military, forest guards, vigilantes and other security stakeholders.
According to her, security operatives have begun combing surrounding forests and suspected criminal hideouts in an effort to rescue the abducted victims and apprehend those responsible for the attack.
She said the police commissioner vowed that the command would not yield to threats or intimidation by criminal groups operating in the state.
“These criminals have declared war against peace-loving citizens, and we are fully prepared to hunt them down relentlessly,” she quoted the police commissioner as saying.
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“We will deploy everything within our operational capacity to smoke them out of hiding, dismantle their networks, rescue all abducted victims, and ensure they face the full wrath of the law.”
The police spokesperson also assured residents of Yashikira and other parts of the state that security operations had been intensified across vulnerable communities, with surveillance, intelligence gathering and bush-combing operations ongoing.
The attack came a day after terrorists invaded a praying ground in the outskirts of Ikiran village, Ekiti Local Government Area of Kwara State, killing three worshippers and abducting 15 others.
Yashikira is one of the villages in the fringes of Kainji National Park, a protected forest now controlled by three jihadi groups, including the franchises of Boko Haram and al-Qaeda.
Although neighbouring villages like Ilesha Baruba, Karonji, Nuku and Tenebo had been repeatedly attacked, locals said this was the first time Yashikira would be invaded.
