Growing insecurity across parts of the South-West zone has stirred deep anxiety among residents, community leaders, and socio-political organisations.

Yoruba land, which was widely regarded as one of the most peaceful regions in the country, is now increasingly confronted with violent attacks linked to bandits, terrorists, and kidnappers.

The troubling question on the lips of many residents is: “Who will rescue Yoruba land?”

Communities across the region have reported rising incidents of kidnapping, killings, and attacks on farmers. The atrocities did not spare the highly sacred thrones of kings. Forest reserves and remote villages, particularly in border areas linking the South-West with the North-Central region, have become hideouts for armed groups.

Residents say these criminals move with alarming ease, attacking villages, demanding ransoms, and forcing many farmers to abandon their lands.

Terrorism eroding sense of safety

The onslaught has reached the crescendo that Yoruba leaders, especially the pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, have to cry out, saying banditry and terrorism are steadily eroding the sense of safety that once defined the region.

The development, according to the group, signals a dangerous shift in the region’s security landscape.

Speaking through its National Publicity Secretary, Mr Jare Ajayi, the organisation lamented what it described as the “near-daily loss of lives” across several states, warning that the situation is steadily turning once peaceful communities into theatres of fear.

Communities experiencing banditry

Ajayi painted a grim picture of the wave of attacks affecting several states in the region.

According to him, in Ondo State, incidents of violence have included assaults on churches, police stations, residential homes and travellers along major roads. One particularly disturbing case occurred in Akure, where a couple was attacked in front of their residence. The husband was reportedly shot while trying to prevent gunmen from abducting his wife.

The violence is not limited to Ondo. In the Oke-Ogun axis of Oyo State, farmers have been killed and travellers attacked along the Igbeti–Kisi road, raising fresh concerns about safety on rural routes that serve as economic lifelines for farming communities.

Similarly, troubling accounts have emerged from Ekiti State, where kidnappers reportedly abduct victims from their homes and later kill them while still demanding ransom from families.

Farms deserted over terrorists’ attack

A farmer, Adeagbo Lawrence, who is from the Oke Ogun axis, told Vanguard that they go to farms in fear because they don’t know when these bandits will strike.

Pastor Olugbade Olaoluwa, a member of the Christian Association of Nigeria, said he has suspended vigils in his church because of the onslaught of the bandits.

“I have heard a lot about numerous attacks on churches in the evening and at night. Any church programme we hold now doesn’t exceed 6pm so as to avoid putting the lives of people at risk. It’s as bad as that. When one is not free to serve his God, is that not a serious concern?” he asked.

When homes are no longer safe

For many Nigerians, the home used to represent the last refuge from the nation’s security crisis. Afenifere believes that comfort is rapidly disappearing.

“Recently, the home environment was considered a safe haven. Unfortunately, that is no longer the case”, Ajayi said.

Bandits are neither spirits nor invincible — Ajayi

He argued that the persistence of banditry is largely sustained by financial networks and support systems that enable criminal groups to acquire weapons, gather intelligence and maintain operations.

According to him, these sources of funding include wealthy sponsors, local and international collaborators, ransom payments from victims’ families, illegal taxes imposed on rural communities, and outright robbery.

Confessions from arrested suspects, he added, have repeatedly pointed to the existence of sponsors who bankroll the operations.

The case for state Police

Afenifere believes dismantling these networks requires more robust security reforms, including the establishment of state police.

The organisation called for a multi-pronged strategy that includes cutting off funding channels, blocking access to weapons, raiding forests and remote hideouts used by bandits, and addressing corruption within security agencies.

The group also urged authorities to improve the welfare and motivation of security personnel while strengthening intelligence gathering across vulnerable communities.

Beyond federal action, Afenifere urged governors across the South-West to take urgent and coordinated measures to protect their citizens.

The group called on state leaders to intensify surveillance in vulnerable areas, dismantle criminal hideouts in forests and rural enclaves, and work closely with federal security agencies.

Unless decisive steps are taken, the organisation warned, the creeping insecurity threatening farms, highways and homes could redefine the region’s identity—and deepen the national crisis of safety and governance.

I’ll get 50,000 men to comb forests — Sunday Igboho

Speaking on the insecurity in the South West states, the agitator for Yoruba Nation, Sunday Adeyemi, also known as Sunday Igboho, who has said for the umpteenth time that could come to the rescue of his people, assured that he could raise about 50,000 men to join him in combing the forests.

He said this in a viral video after his return to Nigeria.

Igboho said: “My father asked me if I could get about 50,000 men to flush out the bandits, and I said yes, I can get up to 50,000 men to flush out the bandits.

“That’s what I was fighting for when President Buhari gave his men the order to kill me. I said we would not allow bandits to kill my people or abduct our kings. That’s all what I said that they went after me.

“We will not trouble our Fulani and Hausa people, who have been living with us for ages. They are not violent. They go about their normal business. But, the blood- thirsty bandits who are troubling my people will have no hiding place if I’m given the go-ahead to flush them out.”

Hunters are ready to defend our people — Soludero Hunters

Speaking in the same vein, the National President of Soludero Hunters Association, Nureni Akintola, expressed his readiness to assemble his numerous men to confront the bandits.

Akintola said: “I have said it several times that we, hunters, know all the nooks and crannies of the forests in the South West. We want the kings and governors to mobilise us. We will curtail the excesses of these bandits.

“The little we have been able to do costs us so much. We spend our money. If we can be adequately mobilised, just give us some months. We will arrest these bandits and hand them over to law enforcement agents.” (Vanguard)

Update news