Get Guardian on GoogleAgainst the backdrop of recent kidnapping incidents along the Ijebu-Ode–Ibadan Road last week and at the Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria (FRIN), Ibadan, the penultimate week, the pan-Yoruba socio-political organization, Afenifere, has once again expressed serious concern over the state of security in the region.
The organisation made its position known in a press statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Jare Ajayi.
Last Tuesday, travelers en route to Ibadan from Ijebu-Ode in Ogun State were abducted, with the kidnappers demanding a ransom of ₦25 million. Among the victims was Mr. Dapo, who had just completed his National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme in Edo State. This incident occurred just weeks after prospective NYSC members travelling from Ibadan were abducted in Imo State on October 1, 2026. Similarly, the abduction at FRIN—which is also located along the Ibadan–Ijebu-Ode highway—followed a comparable incident at the same location just a few months prior.
Ajayi noted that while the organization is relieved that the victims were ultimately rescued or released, “we are deeply saddened that these disheartening incidents are occurring at all, as they remind us that much still needs to be done to secure the people and ensure their safety.”
“While these efforts are acknowledged, the fact that insecurity, particularly kidnapping, persists on our land suggests that current measures are not enough. There is a need for more focused, strategic, and better-coordinated actions from the authorities and security agencies in conjunction with local communities,” Ajayi stated.
The statement also referenced recent remarks by the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, who warned at last Saturday’s Barewa Old Boys’ Association (BOBA) lecture in Gombe that the high number of out-of-school children in Northern Nigeria poses a severe threat to national security. Speaking on the theme, “The Scourge of Out-of-School Children in Nigeria and the Implications for National Security and National Development,” the Sultan echoed his earlier warning from December 9, 2024, at the graduation ceremony of 1,897 Almajiri and 1,087 out-of-school adolescent girls at the Sultan Maccido Institute of Quranic and General Studies in Sokoto.
Represented on that occasion by the Ciroma of Sokoto, Alhaji Aliyu Abubakar, the Sultan had decried the neglect of young children under the Almajiri system, noting that their vulnerability makes them easy targets for criminal recruitment in exchange for food, and urged traditional rulers to take a stand against street begging.
According to Afenifere, the Sultan’s warning reinforces the timeless admonition of the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, during his 1959 and 1979 political campaigns, that denying youths education breeds vulnerability and stifles enlightenment. In his speeches, interviews, and writings, Awolowo repeatedly urged leaders in Northern Nigeria to prioritize youth education, warning that “Northern youths may ask their leaders some questions when they see the rate of development that goes with education in many parts of Southern Nigeria.” Describing illiteracy as a major obstacle to political enlightenment, the former Premier of the Western Region famously maintained that “the power to think clearly, correctly, and scientifically is the greatest of all the powers that a man can possess.”
Consequently, Afenifere called on governments at all levels to prioritize public education and introduce welfare programmes that take children off the streets, thereby cutting off the recruitment pipeline for bandits and criminals.
To permanently end banditry, kidnapping, and allied criminalities in the region, the Afenifere spokesman proposed the following structural, legal, and operational measures.
