SECURITY operatives in Kwara State have apprehended five suspects, including a notorious kidnapper, and seized 127 bags of cannabis hidden in a lorry transporting yams.
The operation, which took place on Friday, September 26, along the Babanla–Oreke–Oke Ode axis, was carried out by a joint team comprising the police, military personnel, forest guards, vigilantes, and operatives from the Office of the National Security Adviser in Abuja.
The Police Spokesperson in Kwara, Ejire Adetoun Adeyemi, in a statement on Saturday, September 26, said the coordinated effort marked another breakthrough in the fight against kidnapping and drug trafficking in the state.
She stated that among those arrested was Tukur Ibrahim from Tsaragi, identified as the mastermind of the August 8 abduction in Babanla that nearly emptied the community.
Two other suspects, Dan-Teni Haruna and Rabiu Ibrahim, both from Niger State, were detained for attempting to smuggle cannabis concealed under yam tubers. Additional arrests included Mohammed Abubakar and Hussain, also from Tsaragi.
Adeyemi disclosed that the suspects would be arraigned after investigations are concluded.
Kwara State Commissioner of Police, Adekimi Ojo, praised the joint security forces for their collaboration and stressed that the state would not be allowed to serve as a haven for criminals.
The arrests come weeks after residents of Isin Local Government Area staged a mass protest on September 13 against rising insecurity.
The demonstrators, including farmers, youths, and traditional leaders, barricaded the Ilorin–Omu-Aran–Kabba highway, demanding government intervention.
They carried placards reading “Stop Kidnapping Our People” and “We Are Tired of Paying Ransom Without Results,” highlighting the toll of repeated abductions in their communities.
Community leaders said that ransom payments had become routine, with millions of naira already paid to abductors. Yet, victims remain in captivity, and local vigilantes sent to confront kidnappers have either gone missing or been killed.
Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, through his spokesperson Rafiu Ajakaye, commended the vigilance of local security outfits but acknowledged the growing scale of attacks
The ICIR has previously reported that the southern part of Kwara, once considered one of the most tranquil regions in the country, has been plagued by escalating violence.
In January 2025, the outlet documented how kidnappings, murders, extortion, and armed raids had disrupted farming and forced families from their homes.
While some of the attacks are attributed to local criminal groups operating from forests, others are linked to armed herders accused of destroying farmlands and carting away produce.
Civil society organisations have repeatedly urged the government to intensify security operations, warning that Kwara’s porous borders with Niger, Kogi, and Ekiti states have made it a transit route for criminal gangs.