By Sumaila Ogbaje
The Kaiama Development Association (KDA) and the Batombu Unity and Development Initiative Abuja (BUDIA) have raised alarm over worsening insecurity in Kaiama and Baruten Local Government Areas of Kwara.
The groups urged for the immediate rescue of more than 170 persons abducted by terrorists in the state.
The groups said sustained terrorist and bandit attacks had killed many, displaced thousands of residents and crippled farming activities across the old Borgu axis.
Addressing a news conference in Abuja on Saturday, KDA Vice Chairman, Prof. Umaru Semo, said the communities could no longer remain silent over the unfolding humanitarian crisis.
He said Kaiama and Baruten occupied more than half of Kwara’s landmass and remained the state’s food basket despite decades of neglect.
Semo said both local governments lacked direct road access to Ilorin, forcing residents to travel through Oyo or Niger states to reach their own capital.
He said community records showed more than 500 people had been killed across Kaiama, Baruten and neighbouring Borgu since January 2026.
According to him, terrorists killed over 200 residents in Woro and neighbouring Nuku on Feb. 3 before abducting more than 170 women, children and other residents.
“Nearly six months later, families have received no meaningful information about the victims or any sustained rescue effort,” he said.
He said Tungan Maje, Kemanji, Karonji, Sekugbe, Kenugbe and Yashikira had also suffered repeated deadly attacks.
Semo said gunmen invaded the Emir of Yashikira’s palace, abducting his wives and children after ransacking the palace.
He said terrorists had established sanctuaries around the Borgu Game Reserve, forcing farmers off vast farmlands and worsening food insecurity.
He warned that the violence had evolved into a dangerous mix of terrorism and organised banditry.
“The pattern of attacks increasingly points to links with terrorist groups operating across Nigeria and the wider Sahel,” he said.
He warned that the region risked becoming another entrenched insurgency theatre unless urgent and coordinated action was taken.
Semo also expressed concern that preparations for the 2027 general elections could push the crisis further into national obscurity.
He called for immediate rescue of all abductees, including victims of the Woro attack and members of the Yashikira Emir’s family.
The group’s leader also called for sustained military operations to dismantle terrorist camps within the Borgu Game Reserve and surrounding forests.
He further demanded humanitarian assistance, reconstruction of destroyed communities, restoration of livelihoods and rehabilitation of strategic roads linking Kaiama and Baruten to Ilorin.
Semo urged governments to confront terrorism and banditry simultaneously while ensuring politics did not overshadow the security crisis.
He, however, welcomed the Federal Government’s approval of a new Nigerian Army division for Kwara, describing it as a positive step.
According to him, the people are not seeking special treatment but constitutional guarantees of security, dignity and equal citizenship.
Former Minister of Transport, Alhaji Bio Ibrahim, blamed years of neglect and underdevelopment for allowing bandits and jihadists to establish strongholds inside the Kainji National Park.
He urged President Bola Tinubu and security agencies to secure the release of the 176 abductees, saying the victims deserved the same urgency shown in rescuing other kidnap victims nationwide.
Member representing Baruten/Kaiama Federal Constituency, Mr Omar Mohammed, urged governments to treat the people as equal citizens entitled to security, justice and protection under the Constitution.
Mohammed demanded the unconditional rescue of the 176 women and children abducted in Woro and the release of the Emir of Yashikira’s wives and children still in captivity.
He said communities had done their best despite being outgunned by heavily armed criminals, urging federal and state governments to intensify efforts to restore security and enable normal livelihoods.
Also speaking, CARE International Country Director, Dr Hussaini Abdu, described Kaiama and Baruten as one of Nigeria’s worst cases of exclusion and humanitarian neglect.
Abdu said the killings, abductions and displacement should have remained a major national issue instead of disappearing from public attention.
He said the communities’ minority status across Kwara, Niger and Kebbi had weakened their political voice and worsened official neglect.
The CARE chief urged governments to fulfil their constitutional obligation of protecting every Nigerian irrespective of ethnicity or geographical location.
The Public Relations Officer of the BUDIA Women Wing, Mrs Asaburu Aminat, appealed for the immediate rescue of women and children still held by terrorists.
She said nursing mothers, pregnant women and children were enduring unimaginable suffering in captivity, urging authorities to intensify rescue operations without further delay. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)
Edited by Yakubu Uba