By Dare Akogun
ELEVEN residents of Isapa, a community neighbouring Eruku in Ekiti Local Government Area of Kwara State, have been abducted following a violent attack by armed bandits on Monday, November 24.
The ICIR gathered that the gunmen, reportedly numbering between 20 and 30, invaded the community around 6:00 p.m., shooting indiscriminately as they moved through several parts of the town with a large herd of cattle.
According to a list circulated online by the community residents, 11 victims were whisked away with seven coming from the same family.
The kidnapped persons include: Talatu Kabiru (20), Magaji (6), Kande (5), Hadiza (10),
Mariam (6), Saima (5), Habibat (housewife), Fatima Yusufu, Sarah Sunday (22, pregnant),
Lami Fidelis, (23, nursing mother), and Haja Na Allah (nursing mother)
“The situation is heartbreaking,” a resident of the community said, adding “Eleven people, including a pregnant woman and children, were taken. We are traumatised. No one feels safe anymore.”
When contacted, the Kwara State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Adetoun Ejire-Adeyemi, neither confirmed nor denied the attack.
In a short response, she said, “Please be on yellow, while i gather necessary information.”
As of the time of filing this report, the Police Command had yet to issue a public statement on the incident.
Residents told The ICIR that fear pervaded the area, with many families worried that the attacks might continue.
Local vigilantes have intensified night patrols, while some residents have begun to relocate temporarily to safer parts of the state.
Security analysts who spoke with The ICIR on similar incident in the LGA recently identified Kwara’s border with Kogi and Niger States as a vulnerable corridor with a long history of bandit movement.
The ICIR reported that gunmen attacked the Christ Apostolic Church (CAC), Oke-Isegun in Eruku, Kwara State, last Tuesday, killing three people and abducting 38 worshippers.
The 38 worshippers, however, regained freedom, according to a statement by the Kwara State Government on Sunday.
The recent attacks in Eruku and Isapa mirror patterns seen in other North Central states, where armed groups exploit forested paths, poor surveillance, and limited policing infrastructure.
The ICIR reported that on November 17, 2025, armed men breached the fence of Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga, Kebbi State, killed the vice principal, and abducted 25 schoolgirls, a chilling echo of the Chibok, Dapchi, and other mass kidnappings of young girls in Nigeria.
A teacher was killed while trying to protect the girls during the attack, and a security guard later died in the hospital from gunshot wounds.
Similarly, gunmen stormed St. Mary’s Papiri Private Catholic Secondary School in the Papiri community of Agwara Local Government Area, Niger State, in a fresh attack and abducted scores of students and teachers, in the early hours of Friday, November 21.
Local sources said the gunmen arrived at the school between 3 and 4 a.m. in large numbers, riding on over 60 motorcycles and accompanied by a van, and shot the school’s gatekeeper, leaving him with serious injuries.
Read the terror series here