Kwara, once regarded as one of Nigeria’s most peaceful states, has come under heavy attacks by bandits and other criminal elements.
In the last nine months, the state has witnessed an escalation of killings, abductions, and mass displacement, a situation that has devastated many communities and families.
The latest major attack in Oke-Ode, Ifelodun Local Government Area, which left over 10 people dead, has spread fear and anxiety among residents, with many abandoning their farms, businesses, and other means of livelihood to relocate to Ilọrin town and environs in search of safety.
The police confirmed 12 deaths, including hunters, newly recruited forest guards, vigilantes and civilians, with many others injured during the bloody incident.
- Bridges, roads succumb to flood in Taraba, Kebbi, others
- Bandits abduct children in Kogi, impose levies on Niger communities
Weekend Trust reports that economic activities have been grounded in the affected communities.
A viral video of a grieving woman sitting beside two male corpses – her husband and his friend – captured the emotional trauma surviving victims and relatives pass through daily.
“They have killed my husband, Ishola, and I cannot run from his corpse. I have no other person; I am the one videoing myself. He was coming home when they broke the glass of the vehicle he was in and killed him and his brother. They also killed 10 vigilantes and abducted a husband and wife,” the distraught woman said, amidst tears.
The experience of Ishola’s widow has become a daily occurrence in many of the affected communities.
The gunmen brought an international dimension to the issue with the kidnapping of a Chinese mining investor in Oreke in June.
The police said that two of their officers, an Assistant Superintendent of Police and an Inspector, both attached to the 45 Police Mobile Force, Abuja, were killed in the incident. However, more than four months after the incident, the expatriate is yet to be found, even though the abductors reportedly demanded a ransom of N1 billion.
At the last count, findings by Weekend Trust show that over 71 people have been killed, over 86 kidnapped, and over 57 communities affected, many of them desolate. Several other attacks have gone unreported.