Afenifere Expresses Concern Over Persistent Terror Attacks In Kwara, Kogi, S’West ….Calls On Govs To Rejig Security Architecture ….Insists Cabal, Territorial Expansionists Behind Menace

The pan-Yoruba socio-political organization, Afenifere, has stated that the ongoing terror acts in states that share borders with the South West are heightening fears over bandits’ incursion into Yorubaland.

In a release issued by the organization’s National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Jare Ajayi, Afenifere stated that the repeated terrorists’ attacks in Kwara, Kogi and Niger States as well as recent kidnap incidents in Ondo, Ekiti and Oyo States leave much to be desired.

It would be recalled that heavily armed bandits that invaded Woro and Nuku communities in Kaiama local government area of Kwara State penultimate week killed nearly 200 people and abducted several others. Same week, some other bandits carried out terror acts in neighbouring Kogi and Edo as well as Niger, Benue, Plateau, Kaduna and Katsina States. On Thursday, bandits operated in Edo and Oyo States where they abducted innocent people including a junior secondary school girl at Challenge area of Ibadan, capital of Oyo State.

According to Afenifere, “this is a very disturbing development as cases of abduction seem to be on the increase in Yorubaland.Incidents that occurred in places like Ondo, Ibadan, Kaduna etc, took place in the metropolis. Meaning that terror acts are no longer confined to rustic settings where government presence is thin, if at all.It would be recalled that masked men who forcibly took away a junior secondary school girl in Ibadan did so in the midst of the people just as the girl’s mother was dropping her at school at Challenge.

The challenge area is on the upper end of the Ring Road area of Ibadan on the way to Lagos. Meaning that the kidnapping spot was inside the town.

Abductions of school children and attacks on worshipping places like churches and mosques as well as markets were commonplace, especially in the northern parts of the country. Kwara had been added to the league.

The latest report indicated that bandits sent notices of attack on some communities in the same Kwara State. Thus, serial sacking of communities and villages which used to be in the North East and Middle Belt is now spreading.

In the light of the foregoing, Afenifere spokesman called on governors of Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Ekiti, Ondo and Lagos as well as those of Kwara, Kogi, Edo and Delta States to urgently come up with security arrangements that would enable their people to sleep with their two eyes closed.

Ajayi recalled that the six South West governors resolved at their meeting in Ibadan on November 24, 2025, to work on the security of the region.They planned to, among others, establish South West Security Fund (SWSF) and perhaps monitoring centres for the purpose of tracking would-be terrorists. Only in the outgoing week, Ogun state government inaugurated close circuit television centres (CCTV) for the same purpose.

“It is however not debatable that banditry and terrorism are continuing not because there is no information on or about bandits and terrorists. Terrorism is becoming pervasive because even the information available is not being processed and used in the interest of the people. Rather, it, in many cases, even serve the interest of those who are clearly ‘the enemies of the people!’

For instance, the head of Woro village in Kaiama, Kwara State, Alhaji Umar Bio Salihu, said that a letter was written before his village was attacked. He promptly forwarded the letter to the higher authority. Yet, what happened still happened.

Also, as testified by various concerned individuals and groups, identities of bandits and some of their sponsors are not hidden. But those who were supposed to act in this respect have failed woefully. Rather than act in the interest of the people, they collude with the people’s enemies.

Ajayi cited the example of some states in the North, especially Katsina, which entered into ‘Peace Pact’ with bandits. Several reports have it that bandits still struck in many places despite signing Peace Agreements with governments and communities. Just as some prominent individuals decided to be ‘middlemen’ between bandits and governments.

“It is inconceivable that those with whom Agreements are being signed could not be identified. Thus, rather than dealing with them in line with the provision of the law, they are being pampered. Besides, those who were saddled with the responsibility of safeguarding the interest of the people chose to sabotage the people.

Instances cited in this respect included the alleged sharing of money meant to procure arms for security agencies under former National Security Adviser, Colonel Dasuki (rtd) and the diversion of money meant for the same purpose by the former Accountant General of the Federation, Mr. Chukwunyere Anamekwe Nwabuoku, who is presently facing trial in a Federal High Court in Abuja.

He is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). He was reported to have refunded some money and property as an admission of the allegation.

In conclusion, Ajayi was emphatic that “the problem therefore is not lack of information, but the will to use the information in the interest of the people.State Police should take off immediately while communities should also be enabled to have local security arrangements.

“It is high time governors in Yorubaland go beyond sermonization and swing into decisive actions that will really make the region a very secure place”, Afenifere spokesman counselled.