LAGOS, Nigeria : The Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Adams, requested permission from South-West governors on May 23, 2026, to deploy a coalition of 14 security groups against terrorist networks operating in the region.
Okay News reports that Iba Gani Adams asked regional leaders for a six-month mandate to clear out the criminal elements responsible for recent abductions.
The request follows an attack on Community High School Ahoro-Esinele and Yawota Baptist Nursery and Primary School in the Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State last Friday. Armed individuals abducted 39 pupils and students, including a two-year-old toddler, alongside seven teachers. The attackers killed one teacher during the invasion and beheaded another in captivity, while the remaining victims have been held for one week.
The Director General of the International Institute of Professional Security, Dr. Tony Ofoyetan, stated that sleeper cells have moved into southern communities and integrated into the society. “Some members deliberately move into strategic positions within society,” Dr. Tony Ofoyetan said.
The President of the Yoruba Council Worldwide, Hassan Oladotun, urged the state governments to merge local hunters and the Oodua Peoples Congress with the Amotekun regional security network. “It is obvious that the Amotekun outfit is either losing focus or it has been abandoned for bandits to have the audacity to move their activities into Yorubaland, especially Ogbomoso and parts of Oyo State,” Hassan Oladotun said.
In his address to the governors, Iba Gani Adams outlined that he leads the South West Security Stakeholders Group, which includes the Oodua Peoples Congress, the Agbekoya, the Professional Hunters, and 13 other organizations. “We already have the troops and logistics to flush out undesirable elements in the land but I need the permission of our governors,” Iba Gani Adams said.
The Special Adviser on Security Matters to the Ekiti State Governor, Brigadier General Ebenezer Ogundana, stated that security agencies held a meeting and have placed marketplaces and vulnerable schools under surveillance to prevent similar attacks.
