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The pan-Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere, on Thursday, called on South West Governors to take the security of their areas more seriously in view of the latest revelation concerning the new influx of bandits into the region.
Afenifere disclosed this in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Jare Ajayi, in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital,
PUNCH Online reports that the Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde while speaking at the 2025 annual inter-faith service for workers held at the Secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan, on Monday, disclosed that bandits being dislodged from the North-West of Nigeria are infiltrating his state.
The Governor had said, “During a security briefing this morning, I learned that some bad elements from the North-West are relocating here due to military heat in their zones.
“To underscore the seriousness of the issue, the governor related his own personal experience when he observed his quiet birthday ceremony at Fashola near Oyo Alaafin towards the end of last month.
“During my birthday retreat in Fashola, bandits had camped less than two kilometres from where I was staying. This underscores the seriousness of the situation.”
Howeve, Afenifere stated that a disclosure of this nature coming from the Chief Security Officer of a state is not something to be treated with levity.
It, therefore, called on all the governors of the South-Western States to “as a matter of urgency, hold a meeting to map out strategies to expel the bandits from the region and to ensure that such elements do not infiltrate Yorubaland at any time again.
“For these objectives to be achieved, there is the need to carry certain groups along. These are the security agencies that will implement whatever security decisions are reached, traditional rulers and heads of local vigilantes known as ‘Ode’.”
Ajayi added that whatever strategies were devised should include functional, up-to-date equipment for those who would be on the fields, attractive incentives and the deployment of modern technologies to assist in identifying the bandits and their hideouts.
While urging security agencies and citizens not to take the issue of security lightly, Ajayi concluded by saying that traditional rulers and community leaders in different parts of Yorubaland should not keep quiet whenever they notice any indication suggestive of security threat.
It added, “For example, until the governor made the revelation on Monday, such grave security danger was unknown to members of the public, yet there are people living in Fashola area where the bandits were reported to have established a camp. It is not unlikely that similar camps could be found in some other parts of the South West, hence the need for urgent and effective action.”
