Seven Killed as Pirates, Security Officials Clash in Ondo

James Sowole
Seven persons comprising four members of a private security outfit operating in the coastal area of Ese-Odo Local Government Area of Ondo State, Gallery Security Service and three suspected

pirates were on Sunday killed while others sustained injuries when the two sides engaged each other in a gun duel.

The suspected pirates said to have come from Igbimo area of Edo State attacked some coastal communities during an operation before they were challenged on their way by men of the private security outfit at Bolowo junction which led to a confrontation.

It was gathered that two bodies of the suspected pirates killed had been recovered from the water, while one was still being searched for.

The Head of the Gallery Security, Osaghale Aklugbemen, while speaking with journalists on the incident, said the robbers escaped through Oroto-Ajapa Road.
According to him, the hoodlums, who invaded the community at about 8a.m. on Sunday, were coming from the Ilaje end of the coastal area of the state, where they had gone for an operation.

He said men of the Gallery Security made several attempts to resist the bandit but were overpowered.

Also speaking, the Chief Executive Officer of Gallery Security Services, Chief Bibopere Ajube, revealed that the robbers had been terrorising the coastal area for the past two years.

He disclosed that his men arrested some of the hoodlums last year and handed them over to the police in Ese-Odo, lamenting that the activities of the group was yet to reduce in spite of intense monitoring in the area.

Disturbed by the situation, Ajube solicited government’s urgent approval of access to ammunition to the outfit to enable it fight crime adequately in the coastal area.

He listed items recovered from the hoodlums to include two guns, 260 live ammunition, 10,000 Korea currency, 80 euro, $24, N4000, one Nokia mobile phone with SIM cards, one 75 horse power engine boat and one Automated Teller Machine (ATM) card issued by the United Bank for Africa (UBA).

Confirming the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) for the Ondo State Command, Mr. Wole Ogodo, gave the name of the deceased  Gallery Security officers as Elemi Obilu, Alimi Zeblon, Idowu Ajaiba and Ofoetitan.

He added that divers were employed to recover the bodies of the dead, saying that six of the bodies had so far been recovered, while one was still being searched for under the water as investigation into the issue had started.