Two security officials dead, one in critical condition after attack on Oyo correctional centre

Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has revealed that two security agents were killed in the attack on the Minimum Custodial Centre, Abolongo, Oyo town in Oyo State, while a female volunteer with the Oyo State Security Network, also known as Amotekun was in critical condition.

The Governor disclosed this during a broadcast on Saturday evening on the state-owned Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State television.

He said: “Our security men were ambushed. As a result, we lost two of our security agents – a corporal of the Nigerian Army attached to ‘Operation Burst’, and an operative of the Oyo state Amotekun corps, Tijani Sadiq Babatunde.

“Aside from the two lives lost, we had several operatives injured. I must mention that one of our Amotekun female volunteers, Shukurat Omoba, is presently in critical condition.

“I have visited her at the hospital, and we are deploying all state resources to ensure that she survives this. Please, let us all join in prayer for her speedy and complete recovery.

“Although some inmates have been recovered and taken back into custody, some are still at large. All security agencies have been placed on high alert to ensure that all that escaped are rearrested and returned to custody.

Makinde, while urging residents to remain calm, appealed to them not to pay attention to “the various speculations going round especially on social media regarding the reason for this attack”, stating that an investigation into the incident had begun.

Read also: Gunmen invade Oyo correctional centre, free inmates

He also asked residents to call the state’s dedicated emergency line, 615, to report suspicious movements in their communities.

He said: “I am therefore using this opportunity also to put the citizens on alert. There is no better time to repeat the call to action: if you see something, please say something.

“These criminals would want to go to areas where they will not be easily rearrested. If you spot any unexplained strangers in your community, please call the 615-security emergency number immediately, and make a report.

“I have directed the security agencies to deploy personnel to critical national assets within the state and to monitor all entrance and exit points across the state.

“Rest assured that we will continue to do everything we are constitutionally allowed to do to secure our state.”

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