Residents of Eruku town, where terrorists wreaked havoc on Tuesday evening, killing three worshippers in a Christ Apostolic Church, have alleged that the police refused to engage with the bandits.
They made the allegations when the Governor of Kwara State, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, visited the town following the terrorist attack on a local CAC assembly.
Three worshippers were killed in the attack, while an unknown number of others were abducted.
A phone being used to livestream the church service captured the moment the terrorists struck mid-service, forcing worshippers to scamper in different directions.
A community representative claimed the police did not give them the expected support when the armed bandits struck.
He claimed that instead of the police helping them, they gave them an additional problem as they shot tear gas into the midst of the vigilantes.
The representative claimed that the police stayed far off when the bandits were in operation, leaving the local vigilantes to do the engagement.
He said that local vigilantes, however, ran out of ammunition.
“Our vigilantes and a few brave residents did their best to defend the community, but we quickly ran out of ammunition,” he said.
The youth leader further alleged that when the vigilantes tried to get weapons to confront the attackers, the Nigeria Police Force arrived and began firing teargas at them.
“Instead of mobilising to confront the terrorists, the police stayed far away, watching the attackers shoot continuously. Our people were left to fend for themselves,” the youth leader said.
He condemned the lack of support from the local government authorities, accusing them of abandoning the community in their time of need despite their support during elections.
Earlier today, residents of Eruku community in Ekiti Local Government Area of Kwara State took to the streets to protest the latest attack by terrorists in the town.
They blocked the Kwara–Kogi highway to protest the latest terrorist attack that claimed lives and left several worshippers abducted.
Young residents poured into the streets and used logs, planks, tyres and other materials to barricade the major road as early as 6 am.
Travellers were left stranded on both ends of the busy interstate route.
The protesters called for immediate deployment of security personnel, improved intelligence gathering, and sustained military presence across the border communities linking Kwara and Kogi States.
They also urged the Federal Government and the Kwara State government to take concrete steps to secure the communities.
See the video of the attack here.
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