Suspected Herdsmen Attack Ogun Village Over Cigarettes

Suspected herdsmen on Thursday night invaded a village in Ogun State and reportedly hacked the community’s 76-year-old leader, Chief Ismail Adasofunjo, leaving him for the dead.

The attackers reportedly invaded the village situated under Odeda Local Government Area of the state around 8:00pm, wreaking havoc all across the place including inflicting deep machete cuts to Adasofunjo’s head.

The 76-year-old is said to be in a critical condition at the moment.

According to findings by Saturday PUNCH, the elderly man was attacked following his wife’s alleged failure to sell cigarette to two herders on Thursday night.

When our correspondent visited the community on Friday morning, it was observed that the victim could not speak as he was still in a terrible state at the Alabata Health Centre.

Wife of the victim, Bilikisu, explained that the existence of the herdsmen in their community was becoming a thorn in their flesh.

She disclosed that the attack took place around 7:30pm on Thursday night when two of the herdsmen requested to buy cigarettes from her but could not state the brand they wanted.

She revealed that the incident angered the men, who charged at her, forcing her to run for safety.

She explained that her husband, who was at their backyard when the herders first arrived, was later attacked with machete when he tried to rescue her.

She said, “They wanted to buy a particular brand of cigarette from me around 7:30pm on Thursday and I told them I didn’t have that brand.

“They angrily charged at me and I ran into the house and quickly locked the door but my husband was behind the house at the time.

“He then stood up to see the cause of the noise, one of the herdsmen landed a machete on his head.”
Several attempts to get reaction from the state Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi failed.

Oyeyemi could not be reached as of the time of filing this report.