INSECURITY WORSENS AS TERRORISTS DEMAND DRUGS, VIRGINS – AFENIFERE
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By: Fasasi Hammad
The pan-Yoruba socio-political organization, Afenifere, has condemned the rising wave of terrorist attacks across south-western Nigeria, calling on federal and state authorities to intensify efforts to rescue the region from banditry.
According to a report by Vanguard Newspaper, Afenifere’s National Publicity Secretary, Jare Ajayi, in a press statement on Saturday, expressed alarm over the near-daily loss of lives across several states, noting the brutal treatment of kidnapped victims, including beatings and humiliations.
Ajayi detailed a series of attacks across the region: assaults on churches, police stations, homes, and highways in Ondo State; attacks on communities in Kwara; killings of farmers and attacks on travelers along the Igbeti-Kisi road in Oke-Ogun, Oyo State; and kidnappings in Ekiti State, where victims were killed and held for ransom.
On the nature of ransom demands, he stated: “The greatest demonstration of the heartlessness of these criminals was their demands of N1.5 million, Indian hemp, cocaine, the synthetic drug ICE, and cartons of beer for the release of a corpse in their custody.”
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He added: “In an even more shocking display, the kidnappers requested virgins in exchange for four previously abducted men.”
Ajayi emphasized that homes are no longer safe havens. “Recently, homes were considered secure, but that is no longer the case. A couple in Akure, Ondo State, was attacked in front of their house, with the husband shot while trying to prevent his wife’s abduction.”
He highlighted other incidents: “Elder Igwe, father of a former Deputy Governor of Ebonyi State, was kidnapped on his way to church on March 1. In Erinmope-Ekiti, a family of five was taken at 7 p.m. while residents were at mosque for evening prayers. Bandits also targeted houses in Kubwa, Abuja, robbing and abducting people.”
Ajayi noted that similar attacks have occurred in Kwara, Plateau, Benue, Borno, Kebbi, Nasarawa, Niger, Katsina, and Kaduna States, with returning refugees from Cameroon falling victim in Bauchi State. He also recounted a case in Edo State where a kidnapped medical doctor helped police arrest perpetrators after recognizing them while treating a kidnapper’s sick daughter, highlighting the bandits’ double standards.
On combating terrorism and kidnapping, Ajayi stressed: “Bandits are neither spirits nor invincible. Their funding comes from wealthy individuals, local and international organizations, some state actors, communities paying protection fees, ransoms, and theft. Sponsors must be pursued, their resources cut off, and their hideouts raided.”
He further called for tackling corruption and sabotage within security forces, motivating personnel, and immediately establishing state police. Afenifere commended President Bola Tinubu for pushing for state police through constitutional amendments and praised Inspector-General of Police, Tunji Disu, for setting up a committee on state police deployment.
Finally, the organization urged South West governors to “raid bandit hideouts, maintain constant surveillance of vulnerable areas, and fully cooperate with the Federal Government to ensure the swift establishment of state police in their states.”
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