The renewed onslaught of terrorists on the South-West

FOLLOWING the outcry by the Oyo State governor, Mr Seyi Makinde, on the renewed onslaught of terrorists on the South-West geopolitical zone and the efforts by the security agencies to contain the threat, some heartrending events happened recently which further confirmed the accuracy of the governor’s submission. In the first, suspected killer-herders murdered a 16-year-old girl for resisting their attempts to rape her on a farm in Emure-Ekiti in Emure Local Government Area of Ekiti State. The teenager was on the farm with her brother when the terrorists struck. The latter managed to escape from the onslaught, but the girl was reportedly overpowered by the outlaws before being hacked to death. Said a resident of the area: “I suspect they wanted to kidnap them because you know the people (herdsmen) are always around here, wreaking havoc on us with kidnappings. We are calling on the state and federal governments to help us in this area because the activities of these people are on the increase here.” In another development, men of the Ondo State Amotekun rescued a 75-year-old woman from her abductors after she had been raped in Ifira Akoko in Akoko South-East Local Government area of the state.

While parading the suspects at the Amotekun headquarters in Akure, the Ondo State capital, the security outfit also presented some suspected kidnappers arrested for abducting 18 passengers from a bus along the Akure-Owo highway a few weeks ago. Hear the assaulted victim: “I was on my way back from the farm that fateful sunny day after work when I saw three men approaching me. As soon as they saw me, they grabbed my hands and dragged me into the bush. The next thing I knew was one of them forcefully removing my clothes and penetrating me. I don’t know how I ended up with Amotekun because I was confused.” One of the suspected kidnappers involved in the abduction of 18 passengers also raped one of the passengers. Said the victim: “They marched us out of the bus. One Mallam, a Fulani man, held my neck and dragged me from the road into the bush. After about 20 minutes of struggling, he tore off my clothes and raped me.”

Appalled by the disturbing development, Catholic Bishops of the Ibadan Ecclesiastical Province denounced the resurgence of herder attacks in parts of Yorubaland and tasked governors of the states to increase their security presence in the affected areas . The Catholic bishops of the Province, comprising Ibadan Archdiocese and Ilorin, Ondo, Oyo, Ekiti and Osogbo dioceses, stated this in a communiqué issued after their first meeting of 2025 at the Jubilee Conference Centre, Oke Ado, Ibadan, Oyo State, last Tuesday. In the communiqué signed by the Most Reverend Gabriel ‘Leke Abegunrin and Most Reverend John Akin Oyejola, the bishops said: “We must denounce the threat posed more recently by the resurgence of the menace of herdsmen attacks, kidnappings, robberies and other crimes in parts of Yorubaland. We appeal to governors and security agencies in the South-West zone to rise up to the challenge posed by these threats in order to maintain the relative peace and security of recent years.” To achieve this goal, the bishops suggested “efficient intelligence gathering, good remuneration and equipping of our security outfits and a determination to prosecute crime without favour.”

To say the least, the development in the South-West is portentous. For a long time, terrorists have made the zone a prime target, killing people at will, although they have failed to turn it into a theatre of bombing. They have raped, murdered and mutilated many people in villages, towns and highways, abducting travellers and gunning them down at will while also collecting hefty ransoms. It will be recalled that following Governor Makinde’s alert in January, no fewer than 100 foreigners who had invaded Osun State for alleged bomb-making training were arrested by operatives of the Nigerian Immigration Service. Since then, terrorists have barely hidden their desire to unleash terror on the South-West, a zone they feel constitutes some antithesis to their desire to turn the entire country into a human abbattoir. Only last Saturday, the Ogun State Commissioner of Police, Lanre Ogunlowo, intercepted a group of youths numbering 20 and possessing dangerous weapons during his routine weekend patrol along the Eledumare, Bamboo, Fidiwo, Foursquare, Alapako, and the Onigari axis on the Ogun-Oyo border. The weapons recovered from the suspects included “daggers, knives, cutlasses and objects suspected to be charms, among others.”

For how long will these atrocities continue? For how long will the terrorists continue to cut innocent people down in cold blood? If the sexually assaulted old woman in Ondo State and her younger compatriot abducted on the Akure-Owo highway are at least living to tell their sad stories, what about the innocent young girl brutally hacked to death because she would not permit her body to be violated by bloodthirsty criminals? What about the countless number of victims beheaded, burnt alive, or hacked down with demonic relish? What about the innocent drivers and passengers who went from the road to their bloody graves? What about the innocent schoolchildren gunned down by terrorists before their parents and guardians? Can any country make discernible progress while terrorists play ping-pong with human lives?

The South-West governors must act fast. They must take the battle to the terrorists and root them out of the zone. In this regard, it is quite significant that after their meeting held at the State House in Lagos last week, members of the Southwest Governors’ Forum resolved to appoint special advisors on security in each state and establish a Joint Surveillance and Monitoring Team to coordinate security operations across the region, a move which they said was a direct response to the emerging threats of ISWAP and other criminal groups whose activities are inimical to the peace and stability of the zone. The governors must walk their talk and save their people from the threat of extermination. From available evidence, the enemy is well resourced and properly coordinated and must be confronted with all the lethality that the Nigerian State can muster. In this regard, we call for greater engagement of the police, the military, Department of State Services and other security agencies. We also call for proper equipping of Amotekun and the conclusion of efforts to roll out state police. The governors should also mobilise traditional rulers and community leaders to stem the onslaught of terrorists in the South-West.