US Military intervention may be needed to curb worsening insecurity says Gani Adams
US Military intervention may be needed to curb worsening insecurity says Gani Adams
Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Adams, has raised fresh alarm over rising insecurity across the Southwest and parts of the Middle Belt, suggesting that international assistance may become necessary if Nigeria’s security architecture continues to fall short. He referenced past U.S. military operations in the country while making the point.
Speaking at a world press conference in Lagos on Tuesday, Adams said attacks, kidnappings and other violent crimes are increasing in Kogi, Kwara, Ekiti, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Ogun and Lagos, as well as in border communities in Edo and Delta. According to him, many of the armed groups are operating from forests and porous border corridors.
Adams recalled that he wrote to Southwest governors more than a year ago, urging them to work with traditional institutions and local security formations to confront criminal elements hiding in the forests, but said his warnings were ignored.
He cited the killings of Major General Segun Aremu (rtd), the Olukoro of Koro in Kwara State, and Oba Israel Adeusi, the Olufon of Ifon in Ondo State, as evidence of the deteriorating situation.
Warning that the threat is escalating, he said: “Now, the danger is staring at everybody in the face. If care is not taken urgently, this clear, present, serious, and immediate danger has the capability to change the topography, landscape, and history of peace-loving Yoruba people.
This insecurity gradually creeps into Yorubaland, which is a monster that must be fought with all powers at our disposal.”
Adams alleged that council officials, religious leaders, business owners, farmers, travellers and women have been increasingly targeted, with many farmlands deserted due to fear of attacks.
He added that intelligence sources indicate that some armed groups, including foreign nationals, are attempting to move from forest hideouts into urban areas. He pointed to the attack in Babanla, Kwara State, where villages were reportedly displaced and several people killed, and referenced the abduction of students in Kebbi State. He linked similar patterns of violence and displacement in Benue, Plateau, Niger, Nasarawa and Taraba to the same networks of armed groups.
Adams also claimed that criminal elements are taking advantage of mineral-rich zones to engage in illegal mining, using the proceeds to acquire weapons.
Reiterating his earlier demand for a regional security conference, he criticised government inaction on his proposal for a Southwest Security Summit that would bring together traditional rulers, religious bodies, farmers, businesses, herders and security agencies to fashion a coordinated response.
He stated: “We must treat this cankerworm with the urgent attention it deserves because for any development to take place in any polity, evil must not be appeased. It must be decisively dealt with and fought from all angles like the monster that it is. That was why I proposed the convocation of a Southwest Security Summit to be held in one of the state capitals in Yorubaland.”
On proposals for external intervention, Adams said he welcomed any form of international support capable of restoring peace, noting that recent foreign travel advisories warning against visits to parts of Nigeria underscore the severity of the crisis.
He urged residents across the Southwest to remain vigilant and strengthen community intelligence networks, stressing that the region must respond decisively to prevent further deterioration.
Adams concluded by calling on security agencies, state governments and community leaders to act without delay, warning that the security situation poses an existential threat to the stability and economic future of Yorubaland.
