The pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, has expressed deep concern over what it describes as a disturbing rise in terror attacks across parts of Yorubaland and other regions of the country.
In a statement issued on Thursday by its National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Jare Ajayi, the group cited several recent incidents, including the killing of Forest Guards at Old Oyo National Park in Oloka, Oriire Local Government Area; the killing of four farmers in Igboho, Oorelope Local Government Area of Oyo State; and the abduction of a nursing mother and her child in the Supare/Ajegunle area of Akoko South Local Government Area of Ondo State.
Afenifere also referenced the arrest of suspected bandits in Ondo State who were reportedly fleeing Sokoto following a United States airstrike on their hideout, as well as the burning down of a police station in Ipele, also in Ondo State.
The organisation recalled that toward the end of last year, rumours circulated about planned attacks on public places in the Southwest during the festive period. While noting that no major incident occurred, it warned against dismissing such intelligence, given reports of terrorist cells already detected in various parts of the region.
The statement stressed the urgent need for heightened vigilance and stronger security measures to protect residents across the Southwest.
“Those who struck at Oloka, Oyo State, on Tuesday must have taken off from one of the cells nearby. Ditto for those who struck in Kwara, Kogi, Niger, Borno, Plateau, Benue, Nasarawa, and Southern Kaduna States, including those who attacked guests at a wedding ceremony on December 30, 2025, at Kunza, Ashige in Lafia local government area of Nasarawa State.
“The 3rd Division of the Nigerian Army, on the eve of this New Year, foiled the attempt to attack some communities in Plateau state and eliminated five bandits in the process.
The Afenifere spokesman challenged Southwest governors to “put life to the resolution they made when they met in Ibadan on November 24, last year, on the security of the region.
“They had resolved to, among others, set up the South West Security Fund (SWSF) that will institute a ‘Joint Security Intelligence Sharing and Communication Platform’ for the purpose of exchanging threat notifications, incident logs, traveller and cargo alerts, and coordinate state-to-state rapid response.
“The governors were urged to quickly actualize the arrangement and jointly acquire the necessary things to secure the region. Kwara and Kogi States, including Edo and Delta States, can be brought into the loop in view of the insecurity linkage with these states.”
Ajayi recalled that the Oyo state government planned to acquire a surveillance aircraft purely for security purposes, quoting unconfirmed sources that the plane would be unveiled during the 50th anniversary of Oyo State at 50 on February 3, 2026.
Afenifere spokesman lauded the military for the yeoman job it is doing, saying, “This could be seen, in among others, the discovery of bomb explosives in Ganaru, Zugurma district of Niger state and the detection of 1,270 warheads of ammunition and power banks concealed in a drainage at Bulumkutu Railway area in Maiduguri, Borno State, the bombing of mosques in the same state and the attack on Kasuwan Daji in Demo village of Niger State, where the bandits also abducted many people.
He conjectured that the battle seems to be unwon so far for a number of factors.
“Salient among these factors were inefficient intelligence gathering and processing, as well as sabotage from within and from without. In that sense, serious attention must be paid to these areas in whatever strategies are being formulated to combat terrorism and banditry.
“In view of the number of bandits that have been eliminated or apprehended, their number seems to be increasing not just because of infiltration but because they force some of their captives to partake in the dastardly act. For example, former Theatre Commander of the North East Nigeria’s Joint Task Force, Major General Christopher Musa, in July 2022, disclosed that of the 70,593 insurgents who surrendered, as many as 14,609 were active male fighters, while the rest were women and children.
“Most of these male fighters were coerced into bandtry. Luckily, the then Theatre Commandant, General Musa, is now the Minister of Defence. He will hopefully put the field experiences to good use now.
In view of the intransigence of the menace, Afenifere is offering some steps that can be taken to put a stop to it. Strategies to be mapped out should include concrete re-orientation on the need to place greater value on life, deradicalisation, debriefing of youths who had been negatively indoctrinated, restructuring the security architecture, appropriate training of security personnel, motivation and empowerment of these personnel, including the provision of modern security equipment, as well as the immediate take-off of state police.
Ajayi added that, in view of the need to tinker with the Constitution to have State Police, a Presidential Order can be made to have various levels of the existing Police structure at state and community levels to be populated by indigenes or inhabitants of the given area. This could be done pending the time that the needed constitutional amendments would be effected.
“This should not be difficult to achieve in view of the recent agreement between the governors and the President on the need to have State Police,” he concluded.
