Afenifere Raises Alarm Over Escalating Terror Attacks in S’West States

The pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, has expressed grave concern over persistent terrorist attacks in states bordering the South-West, warning that the development heightened fears of a full-scale incursion into Yorubaland.

In a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Jare Ajayi, the organisation said repeated attacks in Kwara, Kogi and Niger states, alongside recent kidnappings in Ondo, Ekiti and Oyo States, presented a deeply troubling security trajectory.

Afenifere recalled that heavily armed bandits who invaded Woro and Nuku communities in Kaiama Local Government Area of Kwara State penultimate week, reportedly killed nearly 200 people and abducted several others.

In the same week, the organisation recalled bandits launched further attacks in neighbouring Kogi and Edo States, as well as in Niger, Benue, Plateau, Kaduna and Katsina.

It said that on Thursday, bandits struck again in Edo and Oyo, abducting several innocent citizens, including a junior secondary school girl at the Challenge area of Ibadan, Oyo State capital.

Describing the trend as alarming, 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 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.”

The organisation noted that the abduction of the schoolgirl in Ibadan occurred in broad daylight, as her mother was dropping her off at school in the bustling Challenge area, situated at the upper end of Ring Road on the Lagos-bound axis of the city.

The incident, it stressed, underscored the reality that kidnappings are now occurring within urban centres.

Afenifere further observed that abductions of schoolchildren and attacks on places of worship, churches and mosques as well as markets, had previously been prevalent in the northern parts of the country, adding that Kwara State now appeared to have joined the league of affected areas.

According to the group, recent reports also indicated that bandits have issued advance notices of attacks on some communities in Kwara State, suggesting that the serial sacking of villages, once largely associated with the North-East and Middle Belt, is spreading to new territories.