Gunmen raids and kidnappings have left Kwara communities gripped by fear, with vigilantes battling heavily armed attackers as police investigations stall, DANIEL AYANTOYE writes
Thirty-nine-year-old Shade Ajiboye sat on a plastic chair in the sitting room of her family home in Rore, in the Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara State.
Her husband, Wale Ajiboye, a local security guard, had been killed days earlier when gunmen stormed the community at night.
“I never knew he would not return. He did not tell me this is how he would die,” she said as tears streamed down her face.
Clutching her youngest child, a one-year-old girl, in her arms, she asked, “Where will I start from with five children?”
The father of five (three boys and two girls) was killed by gunmen at his workplace.
For now, the people of Kwara live in the shadow of fear. Shade’s tears capture the human cost of the violence: families torn apart, children left without fathers, and widows left with impossible burdens.
Fear lingers in the community
When our correspondent visited the community on Sunday, the fear among residents was obvious.
The stillness of night in Rore has since been replaced by fright. Doors are locked earlier than usual, conversations are hushed, and the once-lively streets are now empty at dusk. Residents live in dread of the next attack.
The president of the Rore Development Association, Pastor Mike Oyedepo said, “It is a terrible thing because it is scaring people away. People who had ceremonies two weeks from this time are scared to come, especially the well-to-do among them. I have been receiving a lot of calls.
“One man told me he won’t come home again because of what is happening. We are praying that the government will come to our aid so that such a thing won’t happen again,” Oyedepo said.
But prayers alone may not be enough. At Rore, this reporter observed that the bulk of security rests on vigilantes and local hunters armed with Dane guns and crude rifles, which were no match for the sophisticated weapons of the attackers.
One vigilante, who insisted on anonymity, explained that the gunmen attack communities in the region with sophisticated weapons.
“We are the ones who go into the forest. The police and NSCDC will often say they cannot confront those criminals in the bush because it is not their job. If only we had access to such weapons, things would be much better. These people (gunmen) come late in the night and carry out their operations,” he said.
The wave of violence is not confined to Rore. In Kajola, Oke-Ero Local Government, residents avoid certain roads once dusk approaches.
Olaniyi Ayo, a commercial driver, described how the once-busy Kajola–Erinmope–Odo-Owa Road has become a trap.
“Everybody is now very careful. The rate of kidnapping is very serious. They target people, abduct them, and demand huge sums of money. From 6 pm, we no longer use that road because it has become too dangerous. You can either be attacked or kidnapped.”
Worrisome incidents
Across the state, the toll mounts. On June 4, two police officers were killed in Oreke-Okeigbo, Ifelodun LGA, while a Chinese national and a Nigerian were abducted.
Less than three weeks later, on June 22, three more lives were lost in Okuta, Baruten LGA, after gunmen stormed a home and sparked a deadly gun battle.
The pattern has been grimly consistent: blood, abductions, unanswered questions.
In Lade Ward of Patigi, a Peoples Democratic Party ward chairman, his son, and another villager were murdered, while a 12-year-old, Hassana Abdullahi, was snatched from her Fulani settlement.
By August, the attacks worsened, two killed in Ganmu village, three abducted, two others seized at Baba Ramo Fulani Camp near Isanlu-Isin, and most chilling, the killing of 45-year-old Alhaji Dahiru inside a mosque during evening prayers in Patigi.
The Fulani community in Rore has not been spared. Their leader, Tairu Abdullahi, recalled how his own father and brother were once kidnapped in Kajola.
“These kidnappers come in from 7 pm to 7:30 pm to strike. We arranged our hunters and went to ambush them along Idofin. We got there, and they ran away, but the victims were freed,” he said.
Despite repeated assurances, residents say little has changed.
The Kwara State Police Command had, after several incidents, announced that tactical teams and intelligence units were combing forests to rescue abducted victims.
Yet, the killings and abductions persist.
Police spokesperson, SP Adetoun Ejire-Adeyemi, said investigations are ongoing and that the Commissioner of Police has ordered discreet probes to uncover those behind the violence.
But multiple attempts to get updates on earlier cases were met with silence, as calls and messages went unanswered.
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2025-09-05
