By Ayodele Oni
The Ondo State Chapter of Afenifere, the Yoruba Socio-Political Group, has blamed rise in banditry in the South West on influx of undesirable elements from other parts of the country to the region.
In a statement in Akure on Wednesday, signed by Chief Korede Duyile, State Chairman and Bakita Bello, secretary, pointed out that recent happenings in the region are confirmation of past warning by the group to the governors .
“Afenifere Leadership had indeed continually warned, most times with facts, of the impending catastrophes portended by the unchecked and unrestricted influxes of undesirable elements, deliberately from some other parts of Nigeria into the South West. Unfortunately, our well-meaning warnings were never heeded.
“The Ondo State Chapter of Afenifere uses this development, though heartrendingly painful, to reiterate the call for immediate establishment of State Police, regional governments, and constitutional roles for the traditional heads of our communities.
“In the meantime, we advise all our traditional heads to immediately activate in all our communities, defence mechanisms, systems and structures designed to not only checkmate, but effectively destroy the orchestrated hegemonic territorial armed onslaughts of the marauders, codenamed bandits with their local facilitators.
“We call on the good citizens of Ondo as well as other Southwest States, to be always alert and ever ready to mobilize proactively in self-defence.”
The Afenifere chapter lamented the unfortunate abductions of 42 schoolchildren, seven teachers on May 15, 2026, from Ahoro-Esinele and Yawota both located in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State.
It added “Tragically, the godless bandits even decapitated one of the teachers! We denounce and condemn in the strongest terms their continuous captivity under the most callous and inhuman environmental conditions, as well as prolonged deliberate physical and emotional maltreatment ever imagined.
“We identify very sincerely with the affected children and teachers, their families, their communities and the government of Oyo State, at this critical time of enduring pain and reckless provocation.
“The very act that has subjected all those affected to psychological and physical tortures, is not only condemnable as heinous and evil act.
“We pray for speedy divine intervention and rescue of all those in the marauders’ captivity in Oyo State, as well as other numerous captives being held in Ondo State and other parts of Nigeria. We also wish all victims speedy recovery from inflicted injuries and trauma.
“We appreciate the concern of the Federal Government. We do not forget all the good people that have been involved genuinely in the rescue operations. We commend you all.
“We particularly salute the courage of Governor Seyi Makinde in the face of these challenges. How we earnestly wish that the current unfortunate abductions did not happen.
“We also welcome the recent judicial pronouncement and sentencing to death by hanging, of the terrorists that inflicted heavy casualties on St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo, in 2023.
“We however call for speedy trials and judicial determination of all cases involving terrorists, kidnappers, bandits and other bloodletting criminals.
“We would like to commend the security operatives, who continue to commit their lives to protecting the society, in the face of daunting challenges.
“We implore governments at all levels to ensure provision of necessary resources required for effective surveillance, intelligence gathering and tactical attacks, towards stemming timeously and permanently, the invasions of these heinous marauders
“Finally, we call for the stoppage henceforth, the unwise integration of terrorists under any guise into the Nigerian Military, as such a gesture has proved destructive and counter-productive to our nation’s anti-terrorism tactics and defence strategies.”
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