RESIDENTS of Oke-Ode in Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara State are fleeing their homes following a deadly attack that claimed at least 12 lives, including the Baale of Ogbayo.
A video circulating on social media shows residents, including school children, boarding buses and tricycles to leave the town. A male voice speaking in Yoruba language was heard lamenting that insecurity compelled the mass exodus.
Confirming the attack in a statement on Sunday, September 28, the Kwara State Police Command said armed men stormed the Ogbayo area of Oke-Ode around 7 a.m., shooting indiscriminately and targeting local vigilantes.
Police spokesperson Adetoun Ejire-Adeyemi disclosed that a joint response team of police operatives and personnel of the National Forest Security Service arrived at the scene but found 12 vigilantes already dead. Among them was the Baale of Ogbayo. Four others who sustained injuries were taken to the hospital for treatment.
“At about 7:00 a.m. today, armed men invaded the Ogbayo area of Oke-Ode, shooting sporadically. A combined team of police operatives and members of the National Forest Security Service responded swiftly to the scene, where they discovered 12 lifeless bodies of vigilante members, including the Baale of Ogbayo,” the statement partly read.
Ejire-Adeyemi added that the police, working with the military and other security agencies, had intensified efforts to track down the perpetrators. She assured residents that those behind the killings would be brought to justice.
Kwara State Commissioner of Police, Adekimi Ojo, described the killings as ‘heinous’ and commiserated with the victims’ families. He reaffirmed the command’s commitment to protecting lives and property.
The Oke-Ode attack was the latest in a series of violent raids across Kwara in recent weeks. On September 26, security operatives arrested five suspected kidnappers, including a notorious abductor, and seized 127 bags of cannabis hidden in a lorry loaded with yams along the Babanla–Oreke–Oke-Ode axis. Among the suspects was Tukur Ibrahim, identified as the mastermind of an August 8 abduction in Babanla.
The rising insecurity has triggered growing fear and protests in communities. Earlier in September, residents of the Isin Local Government Area barricaded the Ilorin–Omu-Aran–Kabba highway to demand stronger government intervention.
Demonstrators carried placards reading “Stop Kidnapping Our People” and “We Are Tired of Paying Ransom Without Results,” decrying repeated abductions and killings.
Community leaders told The ICIR that ransom payments have become routine, with millions of naira already paid to kidnappers. Yet, victims are often not released, while vigilantes who confront the attackers are either killed or whisked away.
The ICIR reported that Kwara South, once regarded as one of the most peaceful regions in the country, has been plagued by escalating violence. Attacks linked to bandits and armed herders have displaced families, forced farmers from their lands, and crippled local economies.
Civil society groups have also warned that Kwara’s porous borders with Niger and Kogi states have made it a transit route for armed groups fleeing military operations in the North-West and North-Central. The ICIR’s findings show that the violence has disrupted farming, leading to food insecurity and displacements in several communities.
Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, through his spokesperson Rafiu Ajakaye, has said the government was working with traditional rulers, security agencies, and vigilantes to “roll back security breaches” in the state.
He noted that joint security initiatives and raids had recorded some success, but residents continue to insist that the measures are not enough.
A reporter with the ICIR
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