Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Gani Adams, has raised fresh concerns over insecurity in the South-West, claiming that terrorists have infiltrated at least 40 local government areas across the region.

While speaking in a recent interview with The Punch, Adams said the threat in the South-West has become more serious than many people realise.

“We have 137 local government areas in the South-West, and we spotted not remnants of terrorists, but a lot of terrorists in no fewer than 40 local governments. We have many terrorists that have infiltrated those local government areas,” he said.

Adams revealed that his group had documented the development but chose not to make the information public immediately because they hoped to work directly with state governments to tackle the problem.

“We kept that document to ourselves because we were more confident that working with state governments, which are the institutions governing the states, would yield results compared to working with law enforcement agents,” he stated.

The Yoruba leader, however, expressed disappointment over what he described as the refusal of governors in the region to engage with his organisation despite repeated warnings over the past two years.

“As a result, we called for collaboration with state governments for the past two years. This is a government that knows your antecedents, knows that you have a structure across Yorubaland, even beyond Yorubaland and in some northern states, yet refuses to talk to you, refuses to agree with you, or even assist you, despite being in power and benefitting from security votes,” Adams said.

“Yet they didn’t call to discuss with you. So, you have to bear in mind that the only assistance you can give to Yoruba people is to talk to the media and give little information that some states have been infiltrated and that there would be attacks in those states, because you are not helping matters by divulging the entire information,” he added.

Reacting to the recent abduction of pupils, teachers and residents in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State, Adams said local hunters and vigilante groups may not possess sophisticated weapons but still have a critical role to play in combating insecurity.

According to him, all factions of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) and other local security groups in the South-West are ready to collaborate against criminal elements.

“All hands must be on deck to confront these criminals. You can have less potential and still know the criminals in your area. Security is not always about carrying sophisticated arms,” he said.

“You need intelligent people. You need people who can infiltrate enemy territories. You need multilingual people who can speak different languages and use that advantage to gather intelligence.

“You also need people with spiritual potential. You even need clerics who will pray for the success of your mission. So, the issue of security has different sectors. By combining those sectors, you can achieve victory against criminals,” Adams added.

His comments come days after gunmen attacked schools and surrounding communities in the Ogbomoso axis of Oyo State, abducting several pupils, students and teachers from Baptist Nursery and Primary School in Yawota, Community Grammar School and L.A Primary School in Esin Ele.

Ondo State and several other communities in the South-West have also witnessed repeated attacks by suspected kidnappers and armed groups in recent months. (Vanguard)