Kidnappers who abducted 22 persons from several communities in Kwara South Senatorial District, including Adanla, Isapa, Isanlu-Isin and Owa-Onire are demanding N400 million, food items and drinks as ransom.
At least nine persons, including the monarch of Afin in Ile-Ere District, Oba Simeon Olanipekun, his son Olaolu and a youth corps member abducted in December 2025, are still being held.
It was learnt that the kidnappers have relocated to communities with little or no security presence after military bases were established in areas such as Oke-Ode, Babanla and Eruku.
Also in captivity are nine other persons abducted in Isapa, two kidnapped along the Isanlu-Isin highway earlier this year and two persons seized in Owa-Onire in December.
Commenting on the development, the Coordinator of the Joint Security Watch for Kwara South Senatorial District, Zubair Olaitan, lamented that arresting and neutralising terrorists in the area had been difficult.
Olaitan, noted that poor communication tools and weak coordination between security agencies and local communities had also hampered operations.
“Arresting and neutralising terrorists in Kwara South has been challenging due to several factors. The region’s terrain, with its vast forests, hills and caves, as well as porous borders, provides a safe haven for these criminals,” he said.
The Coordinator added that the bandits had allegedly received support from locals through food, shelter and intelligence, making tracking efforts more difficult.
However, he said the Kwara State Government, working with federal security agencies, had deployed forest guards and launched joint patrols to address the challenge.
“Recent operations have yielded some successes, with security forces neutralising several bandits and arresting suspects supplying them with guns, food and other essentials. The government has also warned that it will not tolerate banditry and is committed to restoring peace in the region,” he said.
Olaitan, disclosed that no progress had been made on the N300 million ransom demanded for the release of nine persons abducted in Adanla community of Ifelodun Local Government Area on Boxing Day, December 26, 2025.
According to him, the Kidnappers had contacted community leaders three times, insisting that the victims would not be released unless the N300 million was paid.
The victims were kidnapped after the bandits failed to abduct the community’s traditional ruler, Oba David Olarinoye, and his wife, who were away in Igbaja at the time.
Commenting on the situation, the Olowa of Owa-Onire, Oba AbdulRahman Fabiyi, who was himself abducted in 2024 and released after paying N5 million ransom, said two persons kidnapped in the community in December remain in the custody of the bandits.
“I spoke with the two of them yesterday. We have paid the terrorists N2 million and have negotiated the balance down to N800,000 which we will take to them with the foods and drinks they demanded before the two persons can be released,” he said.
The monarch lamented the absence of security presence in Owa-Onire and appealed to the Kwara State Government to urgently establish a police station in the community.
“They always operate freely here. We don’t have security in Owa-Onire. Our concern is that whenever they exhaust the ransom money and foods and drinks which we supplied they will come out again and abduct my people. So, we urgently need security to discourage this kind of sad development,” the monarch said.
Oba Olanipekun, recounting his experience in captivity, said the terrain gave the bandits an advantage over security agents.
“The forest is extremely large. The routes are numerous which they know very well because they have been living there for decades. That was why they would always warn anyone not to attempt to escape,” he said.
In Isapa, Ekiti Local Government Area, the Akeweje of Isapa land, Chief Idowu Sunday, said 11 persons were still being held by the Kidnappers, who are demanding N35 million for their release.
The Acting Asipa Ode of Isapa land explained that the Kidnappers initially demanded N300 million after collecting N350 million to release worshippers abducted at CAC Oke-Isegun in Eruku.
He said after negotiations, the demand was reduced to N35 million.
He added that when the community sent three people with N4 million to secure the victims’ release, two of them were held by the Kidnappers.
The Chief explained that the Kidnappers had claimed that the N4 million was meant for recharge cards, while the third person, who waited at a distance, managed to escape.
Veteran journalist and recipient of A.B.C Yola, Reporter of the Year Award (1997), Hassan Umar Shallpella, works with WAP as a Regional Correspondence. He was trained at Institute of Mass Communication and Technology Jos and Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, Training School Lagos.He was a News desk Editor and a Correspondent at the Punch newspaper and till 2019, was the Deputy Editor ofThe Scope newspaper.
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