The pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, has raised the alarm over what it described as worsening insecurity across the South-West, following a fresh wave of abductions in Ogun, Oyo, and Osun States.

In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Jare Ajayi, the organisation expressed deep concern over recent attacks, including the abduction of travellers along the Ijebu-Ode–Ibadan Road last week, during which the kidnappers reportedly demanded a ransom of N25 million. It also cited an earlier abduction at the Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria in Ibadan.

Afenifere further listed the killing of a farmer in Itesiwaju Local Government Area of Oyo State and the separate abductions of Prince Michael Folarin in Igbeti, poultry farmer Ooreoluwa Osonuga in Ogun State, and Honourable Debo Farounbi in Ora, Osun State.

While acknowledging regional security initiatives, including Operation Kosaye and meetings involving governors in the region, Ajayi said the persistence of such attacks demonstrated that existing measures were inadequate.

Referring to recent warnings by the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, and earlier admonitions by the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Afenifere argued that the millions of out-of-school children across the country constituted a potential recruitment pool for bandits.

The organisation urged governments at all levels to prioritise free, quality education and youth welfare as part of efforts to prevent young people from being recruited into criminal activities.

To tackle banditry permanently in the South-West, Afenifere proposed a series of urgent structural reforms.

These include equipping the Amotekun Corps with modern, high-grade weapons capable of matching the firepower of criminal groups; deploying surveillance drones and rapid-response systems to monitor forests and border areas; and granting local governments full financial autonomy to fund grassroots policing.

It also called for traditional rulers and community leaders to be empowered to screen new arrivals into their communities and coordinate neighbourhood watch groups.

Afenifere further advocated strict judicial penalties for banditry, alongside the establishment of mechanised farming and vocational programmes to provide young people with opportunities for productive employment.