Bandits K!ll Two Vigilantes Escorting Fun£ral Procession In Kwara Community, Seize Motorcycles

Bandits Kill Two Vigilantes Escorting Funeral Procession In Kwara Community, Seize Motorcycles

Residents who spoke to SaharaReporters said the incident occurred on Tuesday morning when the vigilantes were ambushed while heading to escort a vehicle conveying a corpse from Oro-Ago to the community for burial.

Suspected terrorists believed to be bandits have killed two local vigilantes in Igana community in Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara State.

Residents who spoke to SaharaReporters said the incident occurred on Tuesday morning when the vigilantes were ambushed while heading to escort a vehicle conveying a corpse from Oro-Ago to the community for burial.

Sources in the area told SaharaReporters that the attackers waylaid the vigilantes along the road leading to the community and shot them dead before fleeing with their motorcycles.

According to a community source, the vigilantes had been mobilised after local security volunteers were alerted that a vehicle carrying a corpse was approaching Igana from Oro-Ago and required security escort due to growing fears of bandit attacks in the area.

“The vigilantes were alerted early in the morning to go and guide a vehicle that was bringing a corpse from Oro-Ago to Igana for burial,” the source said.

“Unfortunately, while they were on their way to meet the vehicle, suspected bandits waylaid them and killed the two of them. They also took their motorcycles after killing them.”

The source added that the location where the vigilantes were attacked was close to a bridge where a woman had previously been kidnapped by suspected criminals, raising further concerns about the worsening security situation in the area.

“The place where they were killed is not far from where a woman was kidnapped previously under a bridge around the community,” the source explained.
Following the attack, residents said a police team from Oro-Ago later arrived at the scene and evacuated the bodies.

“The police van from Oro-Ago later conveyed their lifeless bodies back to the community,” the source said.

The latest attack has heightened fear among residents of Kwara South, who say criminal gangs suspected to be bandits have been threatening to escalate violence in the region.
One resident expressed deep concern over the growing insecurity, claiming that the armed groups had vowed to intensify attacks in the area after the upcoming Sallah celebration.

“What can we do now in Kwara South? These bandits have vowed that they will attack Kwara South after Sallah,” the resident lamented.

“They said they will take over our land, take our wives, and continue killing and kidnapping our people. What is the government doing about this matter? Do they want to chase us out of our ancestral land?”

Residents say the repeated attacks and kidnappings in the region have left many communities living in fear, with locals calling on the Kwara State Government and security agencies to urgently deploy more personnel to the area to prevent further bloodshed.

SaharaReporters previously reported residents of Omogo community in Ifelodun Local Government Area, Kwara State, were plunged into fear and panic after suspected bandits attacked an Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) service on Sunday, brutally assaulting elderly worshippers, including a 90-year-old blind woman, and abducting eight people, among them the wife of a pastor.

SaharaReporters gathered that the latest attack marks the third time bandits have invaded the community, raising fresh concerns over worsening insecurity in the area.

The kidnapped victims have been identified as Chief David Afolayan, Chief Joseph Ibitoye Afariogun, Mr Joshua Adeyemi Jogo, Mrs Rachel Omopariola, Mrs Mosúnmọ́lá Afolayan, Mrs Bukola Sunday, Mrs Anti (Mama Gbeke), and Mrs Remilekun Omole, the wife of the church pastor.

Recounting the harrowing incident, the pastor of the ECWA church, Omole Sunday Timothy, said the attack occurred during a worship session when armed men stormed the premises.

“I’m the minister in charge of the church, ECWA. I was leading the program when we were alerted by one of the members who saw them coming towards the church premises,” he said.

“They had already entered the premises and were approaching the church building. Immediately we were alerted, I told all the members that we should run.”
According to him, chaos erupted as worshippers fled in different directions to escape the attackers.
“Everybody scattered. I went through the back door, jumped the fence, and entered the bush with some members. Others hid in rooms and the pastor’s office. We thank God the bandits could not access those places,” he added.
The pastor, however, confirmed that his wife was among those abducted.
“My wife was among the people kidnapped. Initially, they took 11 people, but later released a child and two elderly women. They were not rescued. The bandits abandoned them because they were too weak to move and would slow them down.”
He explained that he ran to a neighbouring community, Oola, to raise alarm.
“I immediately ran to Oola and called Oro-Ago that we needed soldiers, that kidnappers had entered Omogo. Others, including the CAC minister, also called. That was how soldiers came to our rescue,” the cleric said.
When asked whether the kidnappers had made contact, the visibly distressed cleric said no communication had been established.
“We have not heard anything from them. Sincerely, since yesterday, I have not been able to get myself together. My children have been crying. We keep telling them their mother will return by God’s grace,” he said.
“I am seriously disturbed. I have not been able to sleep or do anything. She is not even in good health for this kind of situation.”
He made an emotional appeal to authorities, insisting the community could not handle the crisis.
“Sincerely, I am pleading with the government that this situation is beyond our power. Eight members are in their custody. The church cannot bear the consequences. Even the entire Oro-Ago community cannot handle this. The government must come to our rescue, especially to assist in negotiations because we don’t know what to do.”
An eyewitness, Afariogun Sunday Steven, told SaharaReporters that he first spotted the attackers approaching the church from a burial ground area.
“Glory be to God that I am alive today. Yesterday morning, around 10 minutes to 10am, we were worshipping, singing and praying, when I saw some people coming from the burial ground area wearing masks, green and blue tops,” he said.
“One of them was running and others followed. As they got closer, I shouted, ‘Bandits are coming, run!’ That was how I ran, and others followed me.”
He said the attackers opened fire as worshippers fled.
“As I ran, they started shooting, maybe thinking we would stop, but we didn’t. Many people escaped through the backyard into the bush. Some even reached Oola,” the eyewitness said.
According to him, security response was delayed despite distress calls.
“They called the police at Oro-Ago, but before they arrived, it was around 10:40 am. The distance is just about six kilometres,” he said.