Fear has gripped residents of Melenge Village in Ose local council of Ondo State as suspected herdsmen attacked the community, setting some houses on fire and killing three persons.

Correspondents gathered that the attackers swooped on the village, an agrarian settlement along Elerinla and Arimogija, and one of the troubled spots in the Ose/Benin axis last Thursday night.

It was gathered that the herders were allegedly infuriated by the refusal of the residents to allow their cows to graze on their farmlands. They reportedly mobilised themselves to attack the community and set their farms on fire.

According to sources in the area, the villagers took to their heels and scampered for safety when the marauders unleashed terror on them, destroying their properties and killing the victims that were yet to be identified as at press time.

The state Commander of Amotekun Corps, Chief Adeleye Adetunji, who confirmed the incident, recounted that his officers got hint of the incident while on routine patrol.

President Muhammadu Buhari has urged the board of the newly incorporated Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited to ensure strict compliance with corporate governance principles that place premium on doing business with the highest ethical standards, integrity and transparency.

President Buhari had, last Wednesday, dropped Senator Ifeanyi Araraume as NNPC Limited Board Chairman. In his place, the President announced the appointment of Senator Margery Chuba Okadigbo, wife of the late President of the Senate, Chuba Okadigbo, as Chairman.

Buhari had, in September 2021, announced the composition of the board and management of the company with Araraume as chairman, but did not inaugurate them.

Inaugurating the board led by Mrs. Okadigbo, yesterday, in Abuja, the President charged them to focus on profitability and operate at par with its peers across the world.

Following the exoneration of the five students and five employees of Dowen College, Lekki, Lagos State, linked to the death of a 12-year-old student, Sylvester Oromoni (Jnr), by the state government, the management of the school has urged all those who have been spreading malicious information against the school as a result of the unfortunate incident to cease henceforth “and allow our dear Sylvester’s soul rest peacefully in our Lord’s arms.”

This was even as the state Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, yesterday, insisted that the deceased died of natural cause as indicated in the result of the autopsy conducted on his body, advising members of the public who may have any misgivings about the outcome of the police investigation, medical enquiry and legal advice with the case to go to court rather than taking law into their hands.

The management of Dowen College, in statement yesterday, regretted Oromoni’s death, saying the longstanding integrity, values and processes the school worked tirelessly to maintain over the past 24 years have been called into question and dragged through the mud

Oromoni (Jnr), a student of Dowen College, died last year November in a controversial manner. He was allegedly attacked by five of his senior colleagues for refusing to join a cult.

Oromoni’s father had alleged that his child was beaten and fed a liquid chemical that eventually claimed his life.

But Dowen College in a swift reaction dismissed the claim, insisting that the student-sustained injuries while playing football with his colleagues.