The governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde, has said the attack on the National Park office in Oloka village, Oriire LGA, which claimed the lives of five forest guards, was carried out by cross-border bandits.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Makinde described the incident as a criminal assault and a tragic loss of lives.
“Earlier today, there was a criminal attack by bandits at the National Park Office, Oloka Village which resulted in the death of five National Park Service Forest Guard Officers,” the governor wrote.
“This is a devastating loss of the lives of personnel in the course of carrying out their lawful duties.”
The governor said preliminary findings by security agencies showed that the assailants crossed into the state to execute the attack.
He added that security agencies are working in synergy to contain the situation and urged residents to cooperate fully with them.
“Let me appeal to residents of Oyo state, especially those in Oriire LGA and other LGAs along our borders, to remain calm,” he said.
“The security agencies have restored normalcy and deployed more personnel to the area.
“Our administration will leave no stone unturned to respond decisively to prevent a recurrence of such attacks.”