The Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) in Kwara State has raised concerns over what it described as a worsening wave of kidnappings and killings in communities across the Kwara South Senatorial District, calling on authorities to urgently strengthen security in the area.
The alarm followed a recent attack in Oyatedo village in Irepodun Local Government Area, where suspected kidnappers reportedly killed an ECWA member, Omoniyi Ajise, and abducted his wife along with four other residents.
The church disclosed this in a communiqué issued after a security meeting held in Omu-Aran, and made available on Thursday. The document was signed by the Chairman of the ECWA Joint District Church Councils Forum in the state, Samuel Adewumi, and its Secretary, Joseph Agboluaje.
The meeting brought together church leaders from Ilorin, Omu-Aran, Igbaja, Oro-Ago and Fate-Tanke District Church Councils to deliberate on the growing security challenges facing communities in the region and neighbouring areas.
According to the church leaders, the latest attack adds to several reported incidents in communities around Oro-Ago, Babanla and other parts of the district.
They also disclosed that two elderly residents, identified simply as Dada and Ishola, were previously abducted in Ahun village but later released after their captors reportedly discovered their advanced age.
The church leaders described the security situation as alarming, noting that kidnappings and attacks had become frequent in several rural communities.
They warned that the insecurity was particularly affecting farmers during the peak of the cashew harvesting season, a major source of livelihood for residents in the area.
According to the communiqué, many farmers have abandoned their farms for fear of attacks, while communities now live under constant threat from criminal groups.
The forum further lamented that insecurity had forced the closure of several ECWA churches in affected communities, as members and clergy fled their homes to seek safety.
“Many pastors are now without congregations, while members and residents have been compelled to flee their homes. Economic activities have been severely disrupted and many families have been pushed into hardship,” the communiqué read.
The church leaders noted that the situation had reached a worrying level where incidents once considered unusual had become routine across several communities.
They therefore called on the Federal Government of Nigeria, the Kwara State Government and security agencies to intensify security operations in the affected areas.
According to the forum, protecting lives and property remains a fundamental responsibility of government, urging authorities to deploy more personnel, strengthen intelligence gathering and adopt proactive measures to curb kidnapping and other criminal activities in Kwara South and neighbouring communities.
Despite the challenges, the church assured that it would continue to support peace efforts through prayers and moral guidance while encouraging members to remain law-abiding.
When contacted, the spokesperson for the Kwara State Police Command, Adetoun Ejire-Adeyemi, said the command was unaware of the incident as no official report had been filed.
“I am not aware of any such incident,” she said in a telephone interview on Thursday.
Ejire-Adeyemi added that the command remained committed to ensuring the safety of residents.
“You know the command is not resting on its oars. Just on Monday, the IGP visited Kwara State and he promised to ensure banditry in the state would be a thing of the past. We also made some arrests recently and those suspects will be charged in court soon after the conclusion of investigation,” she stated.
Recent months have seen rising security concerns across parts of Kwara State, particularly in rural communities bordering forests and interstate routes linking the state with neighbouring Niger State, Ekiti State and Osun State, where residents have reported increasing activities of kidnappers and armed gangs.
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