A brazen criminal attack on a private dredging site in Magbon Etido, Mowé, has left five persons dead, including a serving soldier and four others abducted, the Ogun State Police Command confirmed, as security operatives launched an aggressive joint manhunt for the perpetrators still at large.
The attack, which occurred in the Obafemi Owode Local Government Area of the state, sent shockwaves through the community and triggered widespread speculation online about the resurgence of bandit activity in south-western Nigeria. Authorities, however, moved swiftly to douse those fears.
Speaking through the command’s public relations officer, SP Oluseyi Babaseyi, police described the incident as “an isolated criminal attack and not a bandit operation,” a distinction they were emphatic about amid swirling rumors on social media.
Among the dead is a soldier who was on active security duty at the site at the time of the assault, a development that signals both the audacity and the lethal organization of the attackers. A second soldier who sustained injuries during the confrontation is currently receiving medical treatment, according to the statement issued from Abeokuta.
The loss of a military officer in the line of duty is certain to elevate the response of the armed forces, which have already been drawn into the joint security operations now sweeping the surrounding bush and waterways.
Four people were abducted during the attack, plunging their families into anguish as security forces raced against time to locate them. In what police described as a coordinated search-and-rescue operation involving the police, the military, and other security stakeholders, one of the abducted victims was rescued alive.
The relief, however, was short-lived. As the bush-combing exercise extended deeper into the surrounding terrain, security operatives made a grim discovery: the remains of the other three abducted victims were recovered, confirming the worst fears of their loved ones.
“The Command extends its condolences to the families of the deceased,” Babaseyi stated.
In a haunting footnote to the tragedy, a local hunter who had volunteered to support the security operation lost his life during an encounter with the fleeing criminals in the bush.
His death underscores the very human cost borne by ordinary Nigerians who find themselves on the frontlines of the country’s escalating security challenges, often armed with little more than courage and traditional weapons.
Security forces registered one tangible breakthrough in the operation: sustained tactical pressure led to the neutralization of one of the suspects, believed to be a member of the criminal gang responsible for the attack. The operation, however, is far from over.
“Investigations and tactical operations remain ongoing,” Babaseyi confirmed, adding that preliminary findings reveal no established link between the attack and known banditry networks, a clarification that will be closely scrutinized given the scale and coordination of the assault.
Authorities have called for calm among residents, even as they acknowledged the gravity of what unfolded at the Mowé dredging site. The police command assured the public that every available resource remains deployed to bring the remaining suspects to justice.
While police have been categorical in ruling out banditry, the sophistication of the attack targeting a commercial dredging operation, overwhelming armed military personnel on duty, and executing multiple abductions will invite hard questions about who these criminals are, how they are organized, and whether the state’s security architecture was adequately prepared.
For the families of the dead soldier, three victims, and a hunter who simply answered the call of duty, those are questions that may offer cold comfort. What they bury in the coming days is irreplaceable.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
A deadly criminal attack on a private dredging site in Mowé, Ogun State, claimed five lives, including a soldier and a volunteer hunter, while three abducted victims were found dead, and one was rescued alive. Despite the scale of the assault, police have firmly ruled out banditry, describing it as an isolated criminal act.
One suspect has been neutralized, but the gang remains largely at large. This was a coordinated, lethal criminal operation that overwhelmed armed security personnel on duty, and until the remaining perpetrators are apprehended, the threat is not over.
