Yorubaland facing coordinated assault, Afenifere tells governors to act

The pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, has raised alarm over what it described as a coordinated wave of terror attacks across the South-West geopolitical zone, declaring that Yorubaland is effectively under siege.

The group’s position followed a recent spike in killings, abduction of schoolchildren, highway ambushes, and targeted kidnappings that have heightened fear across the region.

In a statement issued on Sunday by its Publicity Secretary, Mr. Jare Ajayi, after an emergency leadership meeting, Afenifere expressed deep concern over what it termed the apparent helplessness of state actors, warning that the economic and social fabric of the South-West faces an existential threat if urgent steps are not taken.

According to the organisation, the increasing frequency of attacks on major highways linking South-West states and on educational institutions suggests that criminal syndicates and terrorist elements have entrenched themselves within forests across the region.

The group specifically condemned the attacks carried out by gunmen on motorbikes against Baptist Nursery and Primary School, Yawota; Community Grammar School, Ahoro-Esinele; and L.A. Primary School, all located in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State on Friday, May 15.

Afenifere disclosed that its leader, Reuben Fasoranti, was deeply saddened by the incident, which occurred in the same week he marked his 100th birthday. He sympathised with the victims and their families and prayed for the speedy recovery of those injured.

The organisation, however, commended the swift visit of Inspector-General of Police, Tunji Disu, to the scene of the kidnapping in Oriire, as well as the inauguration of the Police Violence Crime Response Unit (VCRU) in Ibadan by Governor Seyi Makinde on May 16, 2026.

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It expressed hope that the initiatives would help curb banditry and violent crimes in the state.

Despite this, Afenifere insisted that the attacks are no longer isolated incidents but part of a systematic attempt to overrun communities in the South-West.

“From the borders of Kwara down to the creeks of Ondo and the highways of Oyo and Ogun, our people can no longer travel or farm in peace. Yorubaland is under siege, and the silence of the federal authorities is deafening,” the statement read.

The group noted that recent targeting of traditional rulers, travellers, and rural farmers has exposed what it described as the severe limitations of Nigeria’s centralised security architecture. It lamented that despite repeated assurances from federal security agencies, forests across the region remain heavily compromised.

Afenifere argued that the persistent insecurity underscores the urgent need for a comprehensive overhaul of the country’s policing system. It reiterated its long-standing call for constitutional devolution of powers and the establishment of state police.

The organisation also demanded that the Western Nigeria Security Network, popularly known as Western Nigeria Security Network (Amotekun), be fully empowered with modern weaponry and granted greater institutional independence to effectively counter heavily armed attackers.

“We cannot continue to ask our local security outfits to confront battle-hardened terrorists with inadequate tools. The governors of the South-West must take the bull by the horns. If the Federal Government cannot protect our people, then our states must be legally permitted to do so without bureaucratic bottlenecks,” Afenifere warned.

The group called on South-West governors to urgently convene a regional security summit to harmonise intelligence-sharing frameworks, seal porous border points, and launch coordinated operations across forest reserves in the zone.

Reaffirming its stance on restructuring, Afenifere maintained that the worsening security crisis is symptomatic of what it described as flawed federalism. Until powers are devolved and state policing constitutionally entrenched, it argued, regional vulnerability will persist.

“Every necessary step must be taken to ensure that terrorists do not have a place, not to talk of a foothold, in Yorubaland – from Lagos up to Kogi, including Edo and Delta states,” the group stated.