Kwara State is at a breaking point. What was once considered a relatively stable and modestly peaceful region in Nigeria has, under the watch of Governor Mallam Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, degenerated into a frightening arena of unchecked insecurity. The spiraling violence across the state is not just the work of emboldened criminals but also the tragic outcome of weak governance, a lack of foresight, and a grossly inadequate commitment to protecting lives and property. Banditry, kidnapping, and armed robbery have become disturbingly routine, while the government continues to respond with inertia, half-measures, and misplaced priorities. The result is that ordinary Kwarans—farmers, traders, children, and traditional rulers alike—are living in fear, vulnerable and abandoned.
The recent atrocities are painful testaments to this crisis. On September 7, 2025, heavily armed bandits stormed the Shagbe community in Ifelodun Local Government, invading the monarch’s palace. Residents were killed, others were abducted, and the assailants operated for hours without encountering any form of resistance. Calls to security agencies went unanswered, leaving the community to fend for itself against the brutality of organized crime. Barely twenty-four hours later, on September 8, Sakpefu village in Patigi Local Government was thrown into chaos when the wife and daughter of the local Party Chairman, Hajiya Fatima Lade and Amina, were abducted in a late-night raid. This was not an isolated tragedy but part of a larger pattern of escalating insecurity in the area. Just days earlier, bandits had attacked Esanti and Lalagi villages in the same LGA, killing a Yoruba driver and kidnapping another resident.
These attacks underline two disturbing realities: first, that banditry in Kwara has evolved from opportunistic raids into coordinated assaults targeting not only rural dwellers but also political and traditional institutions; and second, that the state government has failed to anticipate, prevent, or even respond properly to these recurring threats. For criminals to storm a monarch’s palace in Ifelodun or abduct the family of a political leader in Patigi reflects not only their brazenness but also the complete erosion of deterrence under the Abdulrazaq administration.
The litany of tragedies extends far beyond Shagbe and Sakpefu. In Babanla, Ifelodun, an attack in August saw a police officer and four others killed, the market looted, and the local police station assaulted, forcing over 3,000 residents to abandon their homes in terror. In Kokodo, Edu Local Government, four hunters were shot dead and two villagers abducted. Vigilantes in Lata Nna were ambushed, their vehicles burnt, and their communities left defenseless. In Kwara North, Ilesha Baruba, Kemanji, and Gbugbu have become recurring battlefronts, with seven lives lost in one incident, including a vigilante, and the abduction of a government official, a teenager, and several residents. As these tragedies accumulate, hundreds of families from communities like Sabe, Ologomo, and Alabe have fled en masse, abandoning farms, schools, and ancestral homes. Kwara is bleeding, and the government’s silence is deafening.
At the center of this calamity lies a crisis of leadership. Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq has neither displayed strategic foresight nor implemented sustainable security measures that reflect the scale of the threats confronting the state. The administration has failed to convene security summits in the worst-hit communities, ignoring the urgent pleas of citizens who have repeatedly demanded military bases, aerial surveillance, and strengthened community defense systems. Instead of building robust intelligence networks and empowering local structures, the government has relied on token gestures—such as the distribution of motorcycles to soldiers—while criminal groups like the “Mahmuda” terror network exploit ungoverned forest spaces to launch repeated attacks. These responses are not only inadequate but dangerously negligent, exposing an administration more interested in optics than in the survival of its people.
The consequences of this failure extend beyond immediate insecurity. Farmers can no longer cultivate their fields for fear of abduction, while traders have abandoned local markets destroyed by bandits. Rural-urban migration is accelerating as displaced persons flood into Ilorin and other towns, overwhelming already strained resources and increasing the risk of secondary crimes. Food insecurity looms, livelihoods are collapsing, and public confidence in the government has all but evaporated. It is a tragic irony that a government elected to safeguard its people now stands accused of presiding over their abandonment.
Kwara State can no longer afford to wait for half-hearted gestures. The time for bold, decisive action has long passed. Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq must immediately petition President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to declare a state of emergency in Kwara North and South, where insecurity has reached catastrophic proportions. Permanent military bases and intelligence units must be established in Patigi, Ifelodun, Baruten, Kaiama, and Edu, supported by joint task forces capable of launching both preventive and offensive operations. Local vigilantes must be properly armed, trained, and integrated into this structure to ensure real-time intelligence gathering and swift response. Beyond the military dimension, urgent rehabilitation programs are needed to restore markets, farms, and schools, while compensating victims and rebuilding shattered livelihoods. Most importantly, the governor must finally show presence by holding security summits in affected communities, listening to those on the frontlines, and taking ownership of their plight.
What is at stake in Kwara today is not only security but the very credibility of governance itself. By failing to protect lives and property, the Abdulrazaq administration has failed in its most fundamental duty. History will not remember empty promises or token interventions, but rather the suffering of the thousands displaced, the families torn apart, and the communities abandoned. If Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq continues to evade responsibility, he risks being remembered not as the leader who united Kwara but as the one who stood idly by as the state descended into chaos. Now is the time for courage, vision, and decisive action; anything less would be an unforgivable betrayal of the people he swore to serve.
-Lawal Akanbi Sharafadeen writes from Ilorin.
