…As Senate Orders Defence Chiefs to Act
By Joy Odor | Abuja
Nigeria’s upper Legislative Chamber was thrown into tension and urgency on Wednesday as Senator Oyelola Yisa Ashiru (Kwara South) delivered a chilling warning on the floor of the Senate, “Kwara South is under siege.”
In a motion of National Importance titled “Urgent Need to Address Insecurity in Kwara South Senatorial District, Particularly Ifelodun Local Government Area,” the lawmaker painted a harrowing picture of bandit carnage and mass displacement in the region.
“Farms have been abandoned, schools shut down, roads unsafe. Entire communities are disappearing,” he told a visibly shaken Senate chamber.
According to Senator Oyelola, no fewer than 70 people have been killed and 142 kidnapped in the past year, with 25 communities deserted across Kwara South, the worst-hit being Ifelodun Local Government Area, where bandits have laid siege for months.
He narrated that just last month, 12 forest guards and local vigilante members were ambushed and killed by heavily armed bandits in Oke-Ode.
Among the dead was the Baale of Ogba-Ayo community, while other attacks in Babanla, Sagbe, Oro Ago, and Ganmu-Alheri claimed the lives of traditional rulers and community heads in Ifelodun, Isin, Ekiti, and Oke Ero local councils.
“These are not isolated killings,” Oyelola warned. “This is a slow-motion invasion. Our people are being hunted in their farms, in their homes, and even on the highways.”
The Senator lamented that Ifelodun, the largest local government in Kwara and the economic nerve center of the state, could become a wasteland if urgent action is not taken.
“Ifelodun is twice the size of all six other local governments in my senatorial district combined,” he explained. “It’s rich in minerals, fertile in agriculture, and home to Owu Waterfalls, the biggest in West Africa. If Ifelodun falls, Kwara’s economy falls.”
Moved by the urgency, the Senate adopted sweeping resolutions, summoning the Minister of Defence, Chief of Defence Staff, Inspector-General of Police, and Chief of Army Staff to appear before lawmakers for a security briefing.
A key resolution also called for the immediate establishment of a permanent military base in Ifelodun Local Government Area, to serve as a rapid-response hub for tackling banditry and restoring order.
The Senate further mandated the Committees on Defence, Police Affairs, and National Security to embark on an on-the-spot assessment of affected areas within two weeks and report back with recommendations.
Lawmakers also urged the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to deliver urgent humanitarian aid to displaced residents and compensate the families of slain forest guards and vigilantes who died defending their people.
The motion revealed that the attackers are foreign armed elements working with local collaborators, exploiting forest hideouts along the Kwara–Kogi–Ekiti axis.
These forests, the Senator noted, have become ungoverned territories where criminal gangs roam freely.
“Government patrols have been sporadic and reactive,” he said. “We need permanent presence not occasional raids. Kwara South cannot continue to bleed while Abuja watches.”
The Senate condemned the “episodic and inadequate” response of federal security agencies and expressed outrage that local vigilantes the first responders in most attacks remain ill-equipped, underpaid, and uninsured.
Speaking to Reportcircle News on Thursday in an interview shortly after plenary, Senator Oyelola went further: “No one will come to your home to defend you while bandits slaughter your family. Every local government, every community, must be prepared to defend itself. That’s why I’m urging the Kwara State to strengthen Amotekun and other local security outfits immediately.”
He stressed that insecurity in the rural belt was already triggering mass migration into Lagos and Ilorin, creating social and economic strain on urban centers.
“When villages die, cities bleed,” he said bluntly. “We either defend our borders now, or we’ll be fighting from the city gates later.”
Senator Oyelola also called for the division of Ifelodun into at least four administrative units, citing its vast landmass and complex terrain as obstacles to effective governance and policing.
“Without decentralization, underdevelopment and insecurity will persist. Ifelodun is too large for one local government to manage,” he stated.
The Senate observed a minute of silence in honor of slain traditional rulers, forest guards, vigilantes, and innocent citizens who lost their lives defending their homeland.
Lawmakers unanimously warned that if the killings and kidnappings in Kwara South continue unchecked, the violence could spill into the North-Central and South-West, threatening Nigeria’s fragile national stability.
“This is beyond politics,” Senator Oyelola declared. “If Ifelodun collapses, Kwara collapses. And if Kwara collapses, the entire North-Central will tremble. The time to act is now.”
