Senate resolves to invite Defence Minister, Army Chief, IGP over recent attacks

• Demands military base in Kwara South

From Adesuwa Tsan, Abuja

The Senate on Wednesday, October 8, resolved to summon the Minister of Defence, Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Olufemi Oluyede, and the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to explain the rising wave of insecurity across parts of the country.

This is just as it also called for the establishment of a permanent military base in Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara South, where bandits recently killed 12 vigilante members and the Baale of Ogba-Ayo community, near Oke-Ode Town.

In addition, the upper chamber directed its Committees on Defence, Police Affairs, and National Security and Intelligence to carry out an on-the-spot assessment of the affected areas and report back within two weeks.

These resolutions followed a motion of urgent national importance sponsored by the Deputy Leader of the Senate, Lola Ashiru, titled “Urgent Need to Address Insecurity in Kwara South Senatorial District.”

Presenting the motion, the senator expressed deep concern over what he described as the escalating insecurity in Kwara South, particularly in Ifelodun Local Government Area, where incidents of kidnapping, killings, and banditry have increased in recent weeks, forcing thousands of residents to flee their homes.

He disclosed that in the past month alone, 12 forest guards and local vigilante members were ambushed and killed by armed bandits in Oke-Ode, including the Baale of Ogba-Ayo community. Similar attacks, he said, have claimed the lives of traditional and community leaders in Babanla, Sagbe, Oro Ago, Ganmu-Alheri, and other towns in Ifelodun, Isin, Ekiti, and Oke Ero Local Government Areas.

Ashiru further revealed that at least 142 people had been kidnapped and more than 70 killed in Kwara South within the past year, while about 25 communities have been deserted due to repeated assaults. The situation, he said, has caused widespread humanitarian crises, disrupted education and local trade, and crippled agricultural activities.

“Farms have been abandoned, roads are no longer safe, and local economies are paralysed,” he lamented. “Schools have closed, deepening poverty and increasing youth vulnerability to crime.”

The lawmaker attributed the attacks to foreign armed groups collaborating with local informants, operating from forest hideouts along the Kwara–Kogi–Ekiti boundaries. Although security agencies have made some interventions, he said their efforts remained “sporadic, inadequate, and reactive,” allowing criminal elements to occupy ungoverned spaces.

He also decried the plight of local vigilante groups, describing them as “first responders who lack adequate equipment, mobility, protection, or insurance, yet continue to sacrifice their lives to defend their communities.”

Ashiru warned that if the deteriorating security situation in Kwara South is not urgently addressed, it could spread to neighbouring parts of the North-Central and South-West regions, posing a grave threat to national stability.

Several lawmakers spoke in support of the motion and called for decisive action to safeguard the affected communities.