Gunmen suspected to be herdsmen have again attacked residents of Imoru and Arimogija communities in Ose Local Government Area of Ondo, Peoples Gazette learnt on Saturday.

A resident in one of the affected communities, Ayodele Ogunmola, in a Save Our Soul (SOS) message, said the gunmen shot at people on sight and torched properties.

“It was a terrible incident. They invaded our community and started shooting sporadically as if it was war. I can’t give the exact number of casualties now.

“Some of them blocked the roads and set properties on fire including vehicles and motorbike. Our women were even molested in the process,” Mr Ogunmola said in a chat. The Gazette could not immediately get further details of the attack.

However, it was gathered that security agents, which included the police and Amotekun Corps, have been deployed to the communities.

All efforts to get the reactions of the police spokesperson in Ondo, Funmilayo Odulami-Omisanya, proved abortive as of the time of filing this report. Last year, villages in Ose came under heavy attack at the hands of herdsmen.

They herdsmen were said to have killed residents, who are mostly commercial farmers. The marauders had also set ablaze farmlands and destroyed cash crops worth millions of naira.