Afenifere, the pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, on Thursday expressed shock over the attack on Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) during a special service on Tuesday, as well as the killing and abduction of rice farmers in Bokungi in the Edu Local Government Area of the same Kwara State on Wednesday.

In a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Jare Ajayi, Afenifere 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 CAC church at about 6.30 pm 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.

Reports also indicate that the bandits launched another attack on the Ilorin-Kabba Road, forcing travellers to abandon their vehicles and flee. The latest report states that bandits attacked rice farmers in Bokungi, the very day after the Eruku incident.

A spokesman for Eruku Community, Mr. Olasunkanmi Ayeni, confirming the attack, went further to say that the bandits have been making desperate attempts to penetrate the community for about four weeks.

Reacting, the pan-Yoruba organisation asserted that the incidents further brought the level of insecurity to the fore.

“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,” Afenifere said.

It further argued that the nature of the attacks—the sophistication and daring character—clearly indicated that they were carefully planned and executed by individuals skilled in military and intelligence operations. This view was supported by none other than Kebbi State Governor, Mohammed Nasir Idris, who revealed that there was an intelligence report indicating an impending attack on the school, and he acted on this information to try to prevent the attack from happening.

The governor, who disclosed this during his visit to the school in Maga, declared 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 who escaped stated that there was a heavy military presence at 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 Ubah’s movement was leaked, the 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.” Reports suggest that the circumstances of Ubah’s ambush were similar to how another Brigadier General, Dzarma Zirkusu, was killed in 2021, around the same location. It should also be noted that in some attacks in Benue and Plateau states, allegations of bandits striking immediately after security personnel unceremoniously left a location were also common.

Ajayi recalled that the federal government allocated a huge N6.576.5 trillion to security and defence in the 2025 budget. However, the budgetary allocation challenged this impression. Questions could, however, be asked about how the allocation is being spent. “Going by what is happening, impression was being created that the situation was getting out of hand because the government failed to provide needed funds.”

Ajayi stated: “In view of the foregoing, Afenifere suggested the following steps to be taken without further delay: the immediate implementation of the National Counter-Terrorism Strategy (NACTEST) and prompt enforcement of Terrorism (Prevention) Act, 2011 as amended in 2013 and 2022. The Act is “for the prevention, prohibition and combating of acts of terrorism, financing of terrorism in Nigeria; the DSS and Military Intelligence to beam more searchlight within; the DSS to beam searchlights on illegal mining sites; serving military officers be made to concentrate more on military duties; veterans on retirement be engaged to supplement the serving officers; community leaders be integrated into security apparatus of their respective places and be warned that they would face the music where and when complicity or sabotage is proven against any of them; state police be set up immediately while machinery for the necessary constitutional framework is set in motion; and genuine capacity-building be done regularly for officers.

“Others are anti-graft agencies can beam searchlight on defence spending; as is known, politicians, the world over, often vilify their opponents. Nigerian politicians are no exceptions. Those who are overtly or covertly encouraging banditry for (present or expected) political gains should remember that they can successfully operate as politicians only in a safe environment; governments should be more forthcoming on enhancing socio-economic condition of the people. This can be done through short-term, mid-term and long-term measures, and peace-building efforts involving meetings of stakeholders in various communities with a view to reminding them that banditry has no intrinsic benefits whatsoever be instituted.

“Perceived collaborators should be reined in with both carrots and sticks”.