Armed bandits on Thursday stormed an agricultural farm in Ogunmakin community, near Ibadan, Oyo State, abducting an Indian expatriate and killing a police officer assigned to protect the facility.
The attack occurred at about 1pm at Aqua Triton Company, where the expatriate, identified as 42-year-old Renjith Pillai, a director of the firm, was inspecting crops when about 10 gunmen invaded the premises.
Four operatives of the Police Mobile Force were reportedly on duty at the farm at the time of the incident. An inspector, Imoobe Prester, was said to have confronted the attackers in a bid to prevent the abduction.
During the exchange, the officer was shot by the assailants, who escaped into the bush with his service rifle after whisking away the expatriate. He was rushed to a medical facility but was later confirmed dead.
Security sources said a joint team of policemen from the Idi-Ayure Division, PMF, the command’s anti-kidnapping squad, other tactical units, as well as local hunters and vigilantes, had been deployed to comb the surrounding forests in search of the kidnappers and to recover the stolen firearm.
The corpse of the slain officer has been deposited at the Adeoyo Hospital morgue on Ring Road, Ibadan, for autopsy.
The police have appealed to residents with useful information to assist in the rescue of the abducted expatriate and the arrest of the perpetrators.
The incident comes amid growing concerns over the spread of banditry into the South-West. Recently, Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, warned that armed groups fleeing military operations in the North-West were relocating to the state, vowing that his administration would flush them out and restore security.
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