Kwara Insecurity: Bandits Kidnap Livestock Farmer Days After Worshippers Release

News in Brief

-Bandits abducted an Eruku farmer, Annas Aasanru, on Sunday, at his farm in Koro road.

-The attack revives the trauma of residents after the release of the recently abducted 38 church members.

Residents of Eruku town have been thrown into another bout of panic as bandits abduct a farmer in the town barely a week after the 38 worshippers were released.

In a fresh attack launched on Sunday, gun-wielding bandits abducted 40-year-old farmer Annas Aasanru from his farmland along Koro Road around 12:30 p.m., throwing the community into panic just as they were recovering from the earlier attack.

The spokesperson of the Kwara State Police Command, SP Adetoun Ejire-Adeyemi, confirmed the abduction. She said operatives received a distress report around 2 p.m. that four armed men invaded a farmland along Koro Road in Eruku and whisked away the victim.

“Upon receipt of the report, a joint team of police, military personnel and local vigilante members was immediately deployed to the area for an intensive search and rescue operation,” she stated.

The police spokesperson assured residents that efforts are ongoing to secure the victim’s safe return.

Livestock Farmers Face Rising Woes

The Junction had earlier reported that farmers, especially cattle rearers, in Kwara communities such as Eruku, Omu-Aran, and environs are living in an atmosphere of fear, which has further exacerbated the challenges of the dry season on livestock farmers.

According to a livestock farmer in Omu-Aran, Sunday Moses, many cattle rearers in Eruku have either been kidnapped or had their family members kidnapped by these bandits.

“They are targeting us because they believe cattle rearers are rich. Whenever they descend to a cattle farm, their target is always the owner of the farm; if they don’t meet him, then they kidnap his family members, like his wife and children,” he said.

The bandits also often resort to carting away livestock if they are unable to kidnap any humans during their operation.

Strained Inter-Ethnic Relationship

This incessant kidnapping has also strained inter-ethnic relations between residents and migrants in the community. Many migrants from the Fulani and Bororo tribes have been subject to prejudiced treatment, with some of them forcefully driven out of Omu Aran some months back.

In a report, a community leader, who spoke anonymously, said the attackers in the recent abduction were suspected to be Fulani/Bororo men who stormed the farm armed with cutlasses and AK-47 rifles before abducting Aasanru and fleeing into the bush.

Sunday’s attack marks the second major incident in Eruku within a month, heightening concerns over worsening insecurity in the area.