ODO-ERE, KOGI STATE — Tragedy has struck the community of Odo-Ere, the headquarters of Yagba West Local Government Area in Kogi State, following the gruesome killing of a secondary school student, Kola Sunday, by suspected herders.
Kola, an SS3 student at United Comprehensive College, was murdered on Saturday, May 3rd, just two days before he was due to write his first paper in the ongoing West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
Local sources report that Kola had gone to work on the family farm alongside his two younger siblings when the trio was ambushed. His siblings reportedly escaped, but Kola was shot in the head and died on the spot.
“They were on the farm working when the attackers emerged. The younger ones fled, but Kola couldn’t make it,” a resident told reporters in grief.
Though the exact motive for the attack remains uncertain, residents strongly suspect herders, citing rising tensions and previous incidents involving armed herdsmen in the area.
The killing has sparked outrage and mourning across Yagba West, with community leaders and residents demanding an immediate investigation and enhanced security measures to safeguard the lives of locals, especially farmers and schoolchildren.
“We can’t continue like this. The government must step in to protect us. Our children are no longer safe,” said a local youth leader during a vigil held in honour of the deceased student.
Kola’s untimely death adds to the growing list of young Nigerians who have lost their lives to the country’s escalating rural insecurity crisis.
