The pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, has raised serious alarm over the growing wave of terrorist attacks in the South-west and neighbouring states, cautioning that the trend heightens fears of a potential large-scale incursion into Yorubaland.
In a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Jare Ajayi, the group expressed deep concern over repeated attacks in Kwara State, Kogi State, and Niger State, as well as a string of kidnappings in Ondo State, Ekiti State, and Oyo State, describing the pattern as a “deeply troubling security trajectory.”
The organisation recalled that heavily armed bandits attacked Woro and Nuku communities in Kaiama Local Government Area of Kwara State the penultimate week, reportedly killing nearly 200 people and abducting several others.
Further attacks in the same week were reported in Kogi and Edo states, as well as Benue State, Plateau State, Kaduna State, and Katsina State.
Ajayi highlighted a recent abduction in Ibadan, Oyo State, where a junior secondary school girl was kidnapped in broad daylight while being dropped off at school in the bustling Challenge area, a major axis on the Lagos-bound road.
The spokesman stressed that the incident illustrated that kidnappings are increasingly occurring in urban centres, no longer confined to rural or poorly policed areas.
The group also noted that attacks on schools, places of worship, and markets, previously concentrated in northern Nigeria, are now extending to Kwara and other parts of the South-west.
Reports suggested that some communities in Kwara had even received advance warnings from bandits, yet the attacks were not prevented.
Ajayi called on the governors of South-west states—Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Ekiti, Ondo, and Lagos—as well as their counterparts in Kwara, Kogi, Edo, and Delta states, to implement “robust security arrangements” to ensure citizens’ safety.
He recalled that during a meeting of South-west governors in Ibadan on November 24, 2025, strategies such as the creation of a South-West Security Fund and monitoring centres were proposed, with Ogun State recently inaugurating CCTV monitoring facilities to this end.
The spokesman also criticised the failure of authorities to act effectively on intelligence.
He cited the testimony of Alhaji Umar Bio Salihu, heared in oro village in Kaiama, who reportedly submitted a warning letter about an imminent attack to higher authorities, yet the assault still occurred.
Ajayi alleged that the identities of some bandits and their sponsors were known but that authorities “failed woefully” to act, with some accused of collusion.
He further referenced instances in northern states, particularly Katsina State, where so-called “Peace Pacts” with bandits failed to prevent continued assaults, underscoring what Afenifere describes as systemic lapses in security.
He warned that without decisive action, the South-west faces increasing vulnerability to the spread of banditry and terrorism that has historically plagued northern regions of the country.
