Nigeria’s latest wave of violence has taken a troubling turn, as fresh attacks in Kebbi and Kwara have stirred suspicion of foul play amid glaring security lapses and familiar patterns.
The Zuru Emirate in Kebbi State was thrown into panic after bandits attacked Government Girls Comprehensive Senior Secondary School, Maga in Danko/Wasagu Local Government Area (LGA), killed the Vice Principal, Hassan Makuku, and abducted at least 25 students.
In Kwara, gunmen stormed the Christ Apostolic Church, Oke Isegun, in Eruku, Ekiti LGA, on Tuesday evening, killing two people while about 35 worshippers were abducted, according to police and multiple eyewitness accounts.
Kwara State Governor, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq announced plans to seek the establishment of a Forward Operating Base of the Nigerian Army and a Mobile Police Squadron in Eruku.
He accused security agents, especially the police, of worsening the situation instead of assisting the community.
“When we were pursuing the bandits, the police started shooting from their gate. We thought it was the bandits again. When we got to the station, they tear-gassed us and allowed the attackers to escape,” he alleged.
A youth leader, Shola Peters, also said, “We need the Commissioner of Police and the Inspector-General to come and probe the police. We don’t want them again. Let the government give us guns; we can protect ourselves.”
Speaking earlier, the resident pastor of the attacked church, Lawrence Bamidele, said the congregation was holding a thanksgiving service for 18 kidnapped residents freed last week when the bandits struck.
Earlier in the day, hundreds of angry youths barricaded the Ilorin–Kabba expressway to protest what they described as “total abandonment” by security agencies during the attack.
A vigilante member who pleaded anonymity suggested foul play, citing similarities with previous incidents in Kwara.
“It was on Sunday that they took the forest guards and some of our men for training, and two days later the bandits attacked. This is similar to what happened in Oke Ode when rifles were collected from vigilantes before an attack. The government must probe this. It doesn’t look like a coincidence.”
