Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Adams, yesterday, described the killing of security personnel, including policemen, by armed attackers in Babanla, Kwara State, as barbaric, warning that the incident should serve as a wake-up call for renewed security consciousness across the South-West.

Adams said the attack, which has triggered the mass exodus of residents from the town, reinforces intelligence reports indicating that marauders and bandits are encamped in the forests and border communities, plotting large-scale assaults on people in the region.

He, therefore, urged the federal and state governments, security agencies, and traditional rulers to act decisively to curb widespread insecurity in the country.

According to him, the latest incident was a confirmation of the warnings he had issued in recent months about the growing infiltration of the region by armed criminal elements.

“In recent times, there had been credible intelligence reports indicating that the South-West could experience attacks from marauders and bandits hiding in the forests and border towns. The Kwara incident is a confirmation that such attacks are no longer speculative but real, and they are here,” he said.

He noted that beyond Kwara, similar attacks and violent incursions had been recorded in other parts of the region, further justifying the call for a coordinated and proactive security framework that goes beyond conventional policing.

The Yoruba leader, who called for heightened vigilance, emphasised the need for community-driven security models, including state and local council policing, as well as stronger synergy between conventional security forces, paramilitary outfits and local vigilantes.

He stressed that security should be a shared responsibility requiring the active participation of leaders, traditional rulers, and residents.

“I urge residents to remain alert and promptly report suspicious activities or persons to the nearest police station or policing officers,” Adams said.

Adams also urged state governments to scale up public awareness campaigns on security, deploy intelligence-gathering mechanisms, and create rapid-response systems in rural and border communities, saying: “If allowed, state and local council policing initiatives will play a big role in crime detection, and maintaining law and order within the neighbourhoods.”