IBADAN – The pan-Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, has raised alarms over escalating terror incidents in states bordering the Southeast, warning that such attacks are fuelling fears of bandit incursions into Yorubaland.
In a statement issued by the organization’s National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Jare Ajayi, Afenifere highlighted repeated attacks in Kwara, Kogi, and Niger, alongside recent kidnappings in Ondo, Ekiti, and Oyo, expressing concern over the growing insecurity in the region.
The group recalled that heavily armed bandits attacked the Woro and Nuku communities in Kaiama, killing nearly 200 people and abducting several others. Similar attacks were reported in neighboring Edo, Benue, Plateau, Kaduna, Katsina, and other states during the same period.
Afenifere noted, “This is a very disturbing development as cases of abduction seem to be increasing in Yorubaland. Incidents in places like Ondo, Ibadan, and Kaduna occurred in the heart of towns, showing that terror acts are no longer limited to remote areas with minimal government presence.”
The organization highlighted a recent incident in Ibadan’s Challenge area, where a junior secondary school girl was abducted in broad daylight while being dropped off at school. Afenifere emphasized that kidnappings of schoolchildren, attacks on religious centers, and assaults on markets, previously common in Northern states, are now spreading to states in the Southwest, with Kwara now also affected.
“Latest report indicated that bandits sent notices of attack on some communities in the same Kwara State. Thus, the serial sacking of communities and villages that 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 Southwest 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 the 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 closed-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 serves 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, the 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 a ‘Peace Pact’ with bandits, noting that 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 interests 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.
He advised that the 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.
