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Afenifere has expressed shock over the attack on Christ Apostolic Church during a special service on Tuesday as well as the killing and abduction of rice farmers in Bokungi in Edu Local Government Area of the same Kwara State on Wednesday.
In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Jare Ajayi, the pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation also decried the attack on Government Girls’ Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, Kebbi State, and the killing of Brigadier-General Musa Uba, who was ambushed on Damboa-Biu by terrorists.
Reports have it that some bandits attacked the said church at about 6.30pm on November 18, killed about three people, wounded many and abducted some people whose number is not yet known.
Kwara Police spokesman, SP Adetoun Ejire-Adeyemi confirmed the attack. Report also had it that the bandits launched another attack on Ilorin-Kabba Road, forcing travellers to abandon their vehicles and flee. Latest report said that bandits attacked rice farmers in Bokungi, Edu Local Government Area a day after the Eruku incident.
Spokesman for Eruku community, Mr. Olasunkanmi Ayeni, confirmed that bandits have been making desperate attempts to penetrate the community for about four weeks.
The pan-Yoruba organisation asserted that the incidents had further brought the level of insecurity to the fore.
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“The level of insecurity is calling for a thorough overhauling of the country’s security architecture as high level complicity, sabotage and attempts to turn the people against the government cannot be ruled out in the upsurge of terrorists’ attacks presently.”
It contended that the dimension which the attacks were taking, the sophistication and derring-do character of the attacks clearly shows that the attacks were carefully planned and carried out by elements who are versed in military and intelligence operations. This supposition was lent credence to by no less a person than the Kebbi State Governor, Mohammed Nasir Idris, who disclosed that there was an intelligence report that the school was going to be attacked and he acted on the information with a view to preventing the attack from being carried out.
The governor, who disclosed this when he visited the school in Maga, declared pointedly that the attack was a clear sabotage. Giving reason for this conclusion, Governor Idris said: “We got credible intelligence from the Department of State Security (DSS) that this school was likely to be attacked. DSS further advised that we convene an emergency security council meeting, which we did.”
A teacher in the school, who escaped, stated that there was a heavy military presence in the school. The soldiers even provided training protocols to students and teachers the day before the attack. In his words, “The heavily-armed security men spent the entire night guarding the school. Sadly, for yet-to-be-determined reasons, they reportedly left the school before dawn. About 30 minutes after they withdrew, the kidnappers struck.”
This narration, along with the report of how intelligence about General Uba’s movement was leaked and failure to provide him with necessary cover and the disclosure that calls made to the authorities before the Eruku attack were ignored, “were clear indications that the efforts of the military to defeat terrorists are being sabotaged most likely from within.” Report has it that the circumstance of Uba’s ambush was similar to how another Brigadier General, Dzarma Zirkusu, was killed in 2021 around the same place. In some of the attacks in Benue and Plateau states, allegations of bandits striking immediately after security men unceremoniously left a place were also rife.
Ajayi recalled that the Federal Government allotted a humongous N6.576.5 trillion to security and defence in the 2025 budget. But, the budgetary allocation debunked this impression. Questions can, however, be on how the allocation is being expended. “Going by what is happening, the impression is being created that the situation is getting out of hand because the government has failed to provide the needed funds.
