By Steve Omolale
Like an oasis in the middle of a harsh desert, the Southwest geo-political zone is clearly in danger. Danger of banditry. Danger of brutal kidnappings. Danger of hostility from heartless gunmen. And danger of the unknown. The fear of all this is palpable in the land.
But unperturbed, one or two governors in the zone appear to be in slumber, snoring away as if all is well. The police too have joined in this. It is as if we have no police in the country. What the spokesmen of the various state police commands do these days is to simply confirm attacks and tell us that their commissioners have deployed the so-called “tactical teams” to the scenes after the deed had already been done. The embarrassing failure of intelligence on the part of the police is unprecedented. Those “tactical teams” are tactless.
Obviously, what the police and the state governors do now is to wait for the evil men to strike first before acting since the victims of such attacks are none of their relatives.
This is the way of the undiscerning: a serious sign of incompetence.
Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq belongs to this category of incompetent governors. The reason bandits and terrorists have turned his state to a killing field, where they brutally murder peaceful villagers in their sleep. While AbdulRazaq and many of his counterparts in the North were still slumbering, terrorists who always tell ahead, via warning letters, of their deadly missions have turned their states to playgrounds. The “Operation Savannah Shield” currently being carried out by the military in Kwara is just an after-thought. It ought to have come earlier when the bandits started massing in the forests in that zone.
Also, the terrorists have shown several times that they have more tactics than the ubiquitous police “tactical teams” that are just as ineffective as a dead butterfly.
For AbdulRazaq’s incompetence, which made it easier for terrorists to enter his state, residents of the Southwest states are now anxious and justifiably worried. They have to, because Kwara State shares boundaries with Osun, Ekiti and Oyo states.
Before striking in one of the deadliest attacks in recent times, the Lakurawa, an armed group affiliated with the Islamic State terror cell, was said to have written warning letters to the residents of Woro and Nuku in the Kaiama axis of the northern part of Kwara, close to Niger State.
But AbdulRazaq slept over the letters and did nothing to prevent the bloody attacks, which claimed the lives of about 170 people in broad daylight. He even tried, at one time, to downplay the casualty figure, saying it was around 70. He disappointed the people. The attackers also kidnapped many of the villagers and burnt down their houses and shops simply because they rejected their own brand of Islam.
Motorcycle-riding terrorists have also, since 2024, brought their bloody activities to communities in the Ekiti Local Council Area of Kwara State, which is closer to the Southwest states. They are killing, maiming and kidnapping the people, while destroying their means of livelihood in an orgy of senseless violence. Some traditional rulers were also kidnapped and killed.
In fact, unrelenting and emboldened, the terrorists in their usual way, have written warning letters to the people of Ira, Inaja and Aho communities in Oyun Local Council Area of the state of their impending attacks.
This has prompted the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Akeem Owoade, to appeal to AbdulRazaq to act fast and prevent the attacks, partly because of the historical significance of Ira to the people of Oyo town. Oya, the wife of Sango, the third Alaafin of Oyo, was said to have hailed from Ira.
With the worrisome activities of terrorists in these Yoruba communities and other parts of Kwara, people in Ekiti, Osun and Oyo believe that it is just a matter of time before they unleash terror on their states and other states in the Southwest.
But, this can be prevented if the various state governors sit up and map out strategies with their state security councils.
While the terrorists tested the ground by invading the old Oyo National Park and killed five guards some weeks ago, some suspects were reportedly promptly arrested for the attack. They have also successfully tested the vulnerability of Ondo State many times and disappeared into the forest. The most recent was the abduction and killing of the Alagamo of Agamo in Akure North Local Government Area of the Sunshine State, Oba Kehinde Falodun. A day later, a couple was abducted at Ilu Abo in the same Akure North where they have asked the family to pay a ransom of N80 million for their freedom. Whole villages had been sacked in Owo and Ose axis before. We also remember the Owo Catholic Church attack some years back. Since then, the bandits have not relented.
Just like Kwara, Ondo State is the most pummelled by terrorists in the Southwest in recent times. Despite protestations to Governor Lucky Ayedatiwa by the residents, the terrorists keep visiting them with bullets. The residents generally believe Ayedatiwa has failed to protect them and that he does not know what is going on in his state.
The Amotekun Corps under the late former governor, Arakunrin Rotimi Akeredolu, used to be the cynosure of all eyes among the Southwest states, but not anymore. The voices and actions of Amotekun have been buried by terrorists. The people also believe the current administration in Ondo State is not doing enough for the corps, hence the audacity of the terrorists.
Governors Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji of Ekiti State, Jackson Ademola Adeleke of Osun, Seyi Makinde of Oyo, Dapo Abiodun of Ogun and Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos should learn a lesson and not allow what is happening in Ondo and Kwara happen in their states. Nothing stops all the Southwest governors and the security agencies from working with local vigilantes to checkmate the advancing bandits. This is also the right time to have state police. Proactiveness is what the people need, not medicine after death as the governors and the security agencies are doing now.
*Omolale is a Lagos-based journalist.
