RismadarVoice Reporters
February 15, 2025
The pan-Yoruba socio-political organization, Afenifere, has expressed concern over the growing wave of terror attacks in states bordering the South-West, warning that the development is heightening fears of bandits’ incursion into Yorubaland.
In a statement issued on Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary, Jare Ajayi, in Ibadan, Oyo State, the group described the repeated attacks in Kwara, Kogi and Niger states, alongside recent kidnapping incidents in Ondo, Ekiti and Oyo states, as deeply troubling.
According to reports, heavily armed bandits who invaded Woro and Nuku communities in Kaiama Local Government Area of Kwara State last week reportedly killed scores of people and abducted several others.
Around the same period, attacks were also recorded in Kogi, Edo, Niger, Benue, Plateau, Kaduna and Katsina states.
On Thursday, bandits struck in Edo and Oyo states, abducting several residents, including a junior secondary school girl at the Challenge area of Ibadan.
Reacting to the incidents, Afenifere stated, “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 and others took place within metropolitan areas. This means that terror acts are no longer confined to rural settings where government presence is thin, if at all.
“The Challenged area is on the upper end of the Ring Road area of Ibadan on the way to Lagos. This means that the kidnapping spot was inside the town.
“Abductions of school children and attacks on worship centres such as churches and mosques, as well as markets, were once commonplace, especially in the northern parts of the country. Kwara has now been added to the list.”
Ajayi recalled that the six South-West governors, at a meeting held in Ibadan on November 24, 2025, resolved to strengthen regional security architecture.
“They planned to, among other measures, establish the South-West Security Fund and possibly monitoring centres for tracking potential terrorists.
Just last week, the Ogun State Government inaugurated closed-circuit television centres for the same purpose,” he said.
He, however, argued that the persistence of banditry and terrorism was not due to a lack of information.
“It is not debatable that banditry and terrorism are continuing not because there is no information about bandits and terrorists.
Terrorism is becoming pervasive because even the information available is not being processed and utilised in the interest of the people,” Ajayi stated.
Citing an example, he said the head of Woro village in Kaiama, Kwara State, Umar Salihu, had allegedly written a letter alerting authorities before his community was attacked.
“He promptly forwarded the letter to higher authorities. Yet, what happened still happened,” Ajayi added.
The group further criticised reported peace pacts with bandits in some northern states, arguing that such agreements had failed to prevent further attacks and urging authorities to apply the full weight of the law in addressing insecurity.
