…Demands drones, forest surveillance, grassroots intelligence, full LG autonomy
By Adeola Badru
The pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, has called for a comprehensive overhaul of the South-West’s security architecture, urging governments to equip the Western Nigeria Security Network, codenamed Amotekun, with sophisticated weapons and modern surveillance technology to tackle kidnapping and other violent crimes.
The organisation also called for the deployment of drones, improved forest surveillance, coordinated security operations and stronger grassroots intelligence gathering to curb the activities of kidnappers and armed gangs across the region.
Afenifere warned that persistent attacks on highways, forests and rural communities exposed gaps in existing security arrangements, insisting that governments must move beyond security meetings and adopt more effective operational strategies.
It further cautioned that poverty, educational deprivation and youth unemployment could sustain a recruitment pipeline for bandits and other criminal networks, urging authorities to combine security operations with sustained social and economic interventions.
Afenifere’s National Publicity Secretary, Jare Ajayi, made the demands in a statement issued against the backdrop of recent abductions along the Ijebu-Ode–Ibadan highway and at the Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria, FRIN, Ibadan, on Wednesday.
The latest incidents included the abduction of travellers heading to Ibadan from Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State, last Tuesday, with their abductors reportedly demanding a ransom of N25 million.
One of the victims was identified as Mr Dapo, a recent National Youth Service Corps graduate who had just completed his national service in Edo State.
The incident came weeks after prospective corps members travelling from Ibadan were abducted in Imo State on October 1, 2026.
Similarly, the kidnapping of victims at FRIN, along the Ibadan–Ijebu-Ode highway, raised fresh concerns, as the location had reportedly witnessed a similar incident a few months earlier.
Although the victims were eventually rescued or released, Afenifere said their freedom should not overshadow the recurring nature of the attacks and the threat they posed to residents, commuters and economic activities.
Ajayi said, “We are deeply saddened that these disheartening incidents are occurring at all, as they remind us that much still needs to be done to secure the people and ensure their safety.”
The organisation described the incidents as part of a disturbing pattern of violent crimes across the Yoruba-speaking states and adjoining areas.
It cited the reported beheading of a farmer in Itesiwaju Local Government Area of Oyo State, the kidnapping of Prince Michael Folarin in Igbeti and the abduction of a 33-year-old poultry farmer, Mr Ooreoluwa Osonuga, in Ogun State.
Afenifere also listed the abduction of Honourable Debo Farounbi in Ora, Osun State, alongside reported kidnapping incidents in parts of Kwara, Kogi and Niger states.
According to the organisation, the geographical spread and recurring nature of the attacks made a coordinated regional security response imperative.
It acknowledged security initiatives undertaken by South-West governments, including Operation Kosaye, launched by the Ogun and Lagos State governments, and tripartite security arrangements involving Lagos, Ogun and Oyo states.
It also recalled a joint security meeting of governors held in Ibadan on November 25, 2025, noting that the engagements demonstrated recognition of the regional security challenge.
However, Afenifere said the persistence of attacks despite the initiatives called for a fundamental reassessment of existing strategies.
“While these efforts are acknowledged, the fact that insecurity, particularly kidnapping, persists on our land suggests that current measures are not enough.
“There is a need for more focused, strategic, and better-coordinated actions from the authorities and security agencies in conjunction with local communities,” Ajayi stated.
Education, poverty and insecurity
Afenifere identified the growing number of out-of-school children and the vulnerability of disadvantaged youths as factors that could worsen the country’s security challenges.
It cited concerns expressed by the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, over the high population of out-of-school children in Northern Nigeria and the implications for national security and development.
The Sultan reportedly raised the concern at last Saturday’s Barewa Old Boys’ Association lecture in Gombe, entitled, “The Scourge of Out-of-School Children in Nigeria and the Implications for National Security and National Development”.
Afenifere also recalled the Sultan’s December 9, 2024, remarks during the graduation ceremony of 1,897 Almajiri pupils and 1,087 out-of-school adolescent girls at the Sultan Maccido Institute of Quranic and General Studies in Sokoto.
Represented by the Ciroma of Sokoto, Alhaji Aliyu Abubakar, the Sultan had warned that children neglected under the Almajiri system were vulnerable to exploitation and recruitment by criminal elements.
He had also urged traditional rulers to take a firm position against street begging.
Drawing parallels with the educational philosophy of the late Premier of the Western Region, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Afenifere recalled his advocacy for mass education as an instrument of enlightenment and national development.
The organisation said Awolowo had repeatedly warned during his political campaigns in 1959 and 1979 about the consequences of neglecting the education of young people.
It quoted him as saying: “Northern youths may ask their leaders some questions when they see the rate of development that goes with education in many parts of Southern Nigeria.”
Afenifere also recalled Awolowo’s position on intellectual development, particularly his assertion that “the power to think clearly, correctly, and scientifically is the greatest of all the powers that a man can possess.”
Against this background, the organisation urged governments to increase investment in public education and establish effective welfare programmes to provide vulnerable children with access to schooling and social protection.
It argued that poverty, lack of education and desperation could make disadvantaged young people susceptible to exploitation and recruitment by criminal organisations.
Demands stronger security operations
On the immediate security response, Afenifere urged South-West governments to provide Amotekun with modern, high-grade weapons capable of confronting heavily armed criminal gangs.
It also proposed the integration of conventional security agencies and local security outfits into coordinated tactical squads to strengthen forest surveillance, patrol operations and responses to attacks in remote communities.
The organisation called for the acquisition and deployment of drones, advanced communication gadgets and rapid-response equipment to monitor forests, border communities and other areas vulnerable to criminal infiltration.
On local governance, it advocated full financial autonomy for local government councils, arguing that direct access to resources would enable grassroots administrations to support community policing and sustain regular security patrols in rural areas.
Afenifere further recommended mechanised agricultural initiatives and vocational training programmes to provide sustainable livelihoods for young people and reduce their vulnerability to recruitment by criminal networks.
It also called for strict enforcement of judicial penalties against kidnappers, bandits and perpetrators of violent crimes, maintaining that the justice system must serve as an effective deterrent.
To strengthen intelligence gathering, the organisation proposed efficient grassroots reporting structures through which residents could promptly communicate suspicious activities to ward leaders, community heads and security agencies.
It urged traditional rulers, including Obas and Baales, community leaders and security agencies to take proactive responsibility for local security by coordinating neighbourhood watch groups, monitoring new arrivals in rural settlements and maintaining functional early-warning mechanisms.
Afenifere maintained that tackling the security crisis required a holistic approach combining effective policing, modern technology, community intelligence, judicial accountability and sustained investment in education and economic opportunities.
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