Afenifere Alleges Rising Kidnapping Incidents In South-West, Demands Action

The pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, has raised an alarm over the alleged worsening state of insecurity across the South-West, following a fresh wave of abductions in Ogun, Oyo and Osun States.

In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Jare Ajayi, the group expressed deep concern over recent attacks, including last week’s abduction of travellers along Ijebu-Ode–Ibadan Road, where kidnappers demanded a N25 million ransom, and an earlier incident at the Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria in Ibadan.

Afenifere also cited the killing of a farmer in Itesiwaju local government area, Oyo State, alongside the separate abductions of Prince Michael Folarin in Igbeti, poultry farmer Ooreoluwa Osonuga in Ogun State, and Honourable Debo Farounbi in Ora, Osun State.

While acknowledging regional security efforts such as Operation Kosaye and joint governors’ meetings, Comrade Ajayi stated that the persistence of these attacks proves current measures are not enough.

Echoing recent warnings by the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, and the historical admonitions of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Afenifere noted that millions of out-of-school children across the country serve as a ready recruitment pool for bandits.

The group urged governments at all levels to prioritise free, quality education and youth welfare to cut off criminal recruitment.

To permanently end banditry in the South-West, Afenifere proposed urgent structural reforms, including equipping the Amotekun Corps with modern, high-grade weapons to match the firepower of criminals, deploying surveillance drones and rapid-response systems to monitor forests and border areas, granting full financial autonomy to local governments to fund grassroots policing, and empowering traditional rulers and community leaders to screen new arrivals and coordinate neighborhood watch groups.

Afenifere concluded by calling for strict judicial penalties against banditry as well as the creation of mechanised farming and vocational programmes to keep youths gainfully employed.