The Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Gani Adams, on Tuesday warned that the recent abduction of students and teachers in Oyo State has exposed deepening security lapses in the South-West, calling for urgent and coordinated action to avert further attacks.
Adams, who spoke on a TV programme in Lagos, described the invasion of schools in Oriire Local Government Area as a dangerous turning point for a region once considered relatively secure.
Gunmen had last Friday stormed the Esiele community, abducting pupils, students and staff of Community Grammar School, Baptist Nursery and Primary School, and L.A. Primary School, in an attack that has triggered widespread outrage.
Describing the incident as “sad and highly condemnable,” Adams said the development signalled the emergence of mass abduction in the South-West, warning that the region could no longer afford to treat insecurity with levity.
“We have had a series of kidnappings, but not mass abductions in Yorubaland. This clearly shows that the South-West must now prepare decisively to confront the growing threat of insecurity,” he said.
The Yoruba leader disclosed that he had, over time, raised alarms about the infiltration of criminal elements into states in the region, including Ondo, Ekiti, Osun, Oyo and Ogun, but lamented that his warnings were largely ignored.
According to him, several letters sent to South-West governors advocating a unified security framework and collaboration with local security networks failed to attract any response over the past two years.
“I have consistently called for synergy between the government and indigenous security groups. All hands must be on deck, but there has been no meaningful engagement,” Adams added.
He also decried attempts by some quarters to hold him responsible for the worsening security situation, stressing that his office lacks constitutional control over the nation’s security architecture.
Meanwhile, Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, confirmed the killing of one of the abducted teachers, assuring that efforts were ongoing to rescue the remaining victims.
President Bola Tinubu also condemned the killing, describing it as barbaric, and pledged that all those abducted would be safely rescued.
In a statement by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the President sympathised with the government and people of Oyo State, while directing intensified security operations to track down the perpetrators.
The incident has heightened concerns over the creeping spread of banditry and kidnapping in the South-West, with analysts warning that the region risks a full-blown security crisis if urgent preventive measures are not implemented.
They stressed the need for stronger collaboration among state governments, federal security agencies and community-based security outfits to curb the growing menace.
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