Pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, has expressed outrage over what it described as the deteriorating security situation in Kwara and Kogi states, following persistent attacks by armed groups it labelled as “organised terrorists.”
In a communique issued after its meeting in Osun State and signed by its leader, Oba Oladipo Olaitan, and National Publicity Secretary, Prince Justice Faloye, the group accused the Federal Government of failing to protect citizens and communities from relentless assaults.
Delegates from Ekiti, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, and Oyo states attended the meeting, which decried what Afenifere termed the government’s “non-proactive response” to ongoing killings and displacement in parts of the Middle Belt.
According to the communique, the attacks, particularly those on Oke-Ode and several other communities in Kwara South suggest a coordinated attempt to occupy indigenous territories and impose a socio-political ideology on the region.
“The Nigerian state has failed in its primary duty of protecting lives and property. Successive governments have been held hostage by a minority of invaders obsessed with the notion of owning Nigeria’s 250 million indigenous nationalities,” the group stated.
Afenifere lamented that residents of several Yoruba-speaking communities in Kwara South—including Ologomo, Ajegunle, Agban, Owode, Alasoro, Alawan, Bankole, Oreke, Babanla, Ayetoro, and Oke-Ode—have been forced to abandon their homes due to sustained attacks.
Similarly, communities in Kogi West Senatorial District, such as Eruku, Okoloke, Egbe, Odo-eri, Itakete-Ide, and Ife-Olukotun, have experienced repeated raids by terrorists, leaving residents in fear and unable to farm or travel safely.
The group condemned what it called “festivals of killings” across the country, warning that the Federal Government’s inaction poses a grave threat to Nigeria’s unity.
Afenifere reiterated its call for the urgent establishment of state and community policing, arguing that security decentralisation is indispensable in a multi-ethnic federation like Nigeria.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu must act now. Security is at a state of emergency, and the creation of state police can no longer wait under the guise of national consensus,” the statement read.
The pan-Yoruba body also urged ethnic nationalities to adopt self-defence strategies and reinforce traditional mechanisms to safeguard their people and territories from external aggression.
Afenifere slams Nigerian govt over worsening insecurity in Kwara, Kogi