Metro

Fleeing militants relocate to Ondo

Published

8 years ago

August 2, 2016

After sustained offensive by the Nigerian military, militants in the Arepo area of Ogun State are believed to be regrouping in Ondo State’s riverine communities.

According to reports, the militants are escaping in large numbers to riverine communities in the Ilaje and Ese-Odo local government areas of Ondo State.

The militants, who escaped the intensified aerial bombardment by the Nigerian Air Force of their camps at Arepo, Ogun, and Ikorodu, Lagos, had been sighted in Ore, Okitipupa and other riverine communities in Ondo State.

A security source disclosed that security reports showed that some of the militants had sneaked into the Ondo riverine communities.

He said: ‘‘Arepo can no longer contain them. Some of them have run to Ondo to hide in the riverine areas.’’

The source, however said some of the militants are still in Arepo and other communities in Lagos but are currently making frantic efforts to escape.

Confirming the development, a source in Ese-Odo Local Government Area of Ondo State said since the military started the bombardment of the militants’ camps on Friday, many of them had fled and regrouped in Ondo State.

Read also: Ijaws flee Lagos, Ogun for fear of attack from Yoruba

The source said: “We have sighted them in some communities here. It seems Arepo is too hot for them.”

However, the Director of Public Relations and Information of the Nigerian Air Force, Group Capt. Ayodele Famuyiwa, said on Mondaythat the vandals were seen together on Sunday, probably to perfect a plan to run.

According to him, the cameras on NAF’s platforms that were used for night operations picked some of the insurgents having meetings, adding that the ongoing aerial operation against the vandals would continue until they were flushed out of the Ogun and Lagos areas completely.

Famuyiwa said: “They are almost out of Arepo, an area where they had consolidated their position. Maybe, it is so strategic to them because even in the night, they tried to come back; when we did night flying, the cameras still picked them.

“We see them coming together as if they wanted to hold meetings, maybe to run away during the day.

“Some of them tried to run into the mangrove. You know that place is very thick and that is why our operation is going to continue until we flush them out completely.”

Reacting to the likelihood of the fleeing militants regrouping in the state, the Ondo State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Kayode Akinmade, said the state government was not aware of any militant’s visit to the state.

He however said the security agencies in the state were up to the task to curb any criminal activity in any part of the state and that the state government was committed to the protection of lives and property of residents.

By Timothy Enietan-Matthews

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