Femi Falana, a human rights lawyer, has claimed that the security agencies received intelligence information ahead of time concerning the attack on Igangan in Ibarapa North Local Government Area of Oyo State.
In a statement on Tuesday, Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), alleged that the security agencies got the information over a week before the attack but lamented that no action was done.
According to the Oyo Police Command, 11 persons were killed when Igangan was attacked by gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen on Sunday.
Vehicles and building, including the Palace of the Asigangan of Igangan Town and a filling station, were also burnt.
Reacting, Falana stated that the security operatives failed to take pre-emptive action to protect the residents of the town, adding that those killing, raping and kidnapping innocent residents have not been arrested or prosecuted.
The statement read: “We have been reliably informed that the security agencies in Oyo State have repeatedly failed to prosecute suspects arrested by the people of Igangan for kidnapping, rape and other heinous crimes.
“From the information at our disposal, security agencies were alerted last week of the planned attack on the people of Igangan by a gang of bandits. But as no pre-emptive action was taken, the assailants struck and brutally killed about 20 people while properties worth hundreds of millions of naira were destroyed.
“The members of the Amotekun security outfit who were armed with dane guns were unable to repel the AK 47 bearing bandits.”
The senior lawyer urged President Muhammadu Buhari to take urgent steps to stem the tide of the killing of unarmed people and the destruction of properties.
He also advised youths in the community to set up a defence committee to provide security for the people.
“For the umpteenth time, we are compelled to call on the Buhari administration to take urgent and decisive steps to halt the barbaric killing of unarmed people and the destruction of their properties. In particular, a team of mobile police personnel should be permanently stationed in Igangan.
“However, since the Federal Government is overwhelmed by the worsening insecurity in the country, we call on the youths in the Igangan community to set up a defence committee to provide security for the people. The defence committee should be trained by the police and then equipped with arms and ammunition as well as tracking devices,” the statement read.
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