Published by Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
On the evening of Tuesday, May 19, 2026, as the sun set over Oyo State, a mathematics teacher who had been abducted from his classroom four days earlier was beheaded by his captors. Hours later, in a statement released to newsrooms across the country, Yoruba Nation activist Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho, made a declaration that cut through the grief: all necessary preparations had been completed for the launch of the Iru Ekun Security Network, a 50,000-man regional security force designed to flush bandits, kidnappers and rogue herders out of the forests of Yorubaland. The only thing missing, he said, was government approval.
The announcement marked the most significant escalation yet in Igboho's campaign against the criminal gangs that have turned the South-West into a landscape of fear, coming just weeks after the federal government removed his name from its wanted list and less than three days after gunmen turned a primary school into a hunting ground. According to Igboho, the security network, named "Iru Ekun," has already completed all operational procedures and strategic mapping of forest corridors where criminal elements are believed to be hiding. In a statement issued on May 19, he said: "I don't want to start our strategic and effectively mapped out onslaught against these criminals without the official approval from the Federal Government, South-West governors and relevant security stakeholders — the Police, Department of State Service, Nigeria Army and others." He added, "We are battle-ready with our men to storm these forests and flush out marauders who have made lives miserable for our people."
The proposed 50,000-man force is unprecedented in scope. For context, the Western Nigeria Security Network, codenamed Amotekun, which has been operational across the six South-West states since 2020, currently numbers approximately 5,000 to 7,000 personnel. Igboho's proposed force would dwarf that by an order of magnitude, and its stated mission is qualitatively different: rather than serving as a community watch or auxiliary police force, Iru Ekun is explicitly designed as a strike force that would enter the forests — not just patrol the roads — and engage criminal gangs in their own territory. "We cannot afford to continue like this and fold our hands while we watch our people being mindlessly murdered and abducted by bandits, herders and kidnappers," Igboho said in the same statement.
The backdrop to this announcement is the worst security crisis to hit the South-West in nearly a decade. On May 15, around 9:30 a.m., about 12 armed men on motorcycles launched coordinated attacks on Baptist Nursery and Primary School, Yawota; Community Grammar School, Ahoro‑Esinele; and L.A. Primary School, Esiele, all in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State. The attackers, dressed in military camouflage, abducted pupils and staff, killed an assistant headmaster and a commercial motorcyclist, and fled into the forest. By the time the Oyo State Police Command released its official figures, seven secondary school students, 18 primary school pupils and seven teachers were confirmed missing. Among the abducted teachers was the principal of Community High School, Mrs. Alamu Folawe. The youngest victim was a two-year-old toddler, Christianah Akanbi. On May 17, a video circulated online showing the beheading of mathematics teacher Michael Oyedokun, who had been captured with the principal and other staff.
The attack triggered a wave of rage and desperation across the region. Governor Seyi Makinde, who described the attackers as "terrorists," disclosed that security operatives had encountered improvised explosive devices during rescue operations, and that one Amotekun operative remained in critical condition. The Defence Headquarters, however, contradicted the governor, stating that the attack was an "isolated criminal act" and not evidence of an entrenched terrorist network in the South-West. As the official security response struggled, Igboho, who had spent nearly five years in exile after the Department of State Services raided his Ibadan residence in July 2021, stepped into the vacuum with a promise of decisive action. He had only recently returned to Nigeria after President Bola Tinubu approved the removal of his name from the federal wanted list. Now, he was back, and he was ready to fight.
But Igboho's announcement was not met with universal acclaim. On the same day he issued his statement, Nigerian TikTok creator Olumide Ogunsanwo, known as Sea King, released a video criticising the activist for what he perceived as silence in the wake of the school abductions. "You vowed to eradicate the bandits and promised to lead 50,000 men," Sea King said, addressing Igboho directly. "Now the killings haven't stopped. So where is the action?" He accused Igboho of abandoning his earlier commitments, adding that "silence after a presidential pardon isn't bravery, it's politics." The criticism highlighted a tension that has followed Igboho throughout his career as an activist and agitator: the gap between his rhetoric and the tangible impact of his actions on the ground.
Nevertheless, the announcement resonated with a public that has grown increasingly frustrated with the official security response. The Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) had issued a separate statement on May 20 demanding a security emergency in Yorubaland, accusing South-West governors of ignoring repeated warnings about the threat from bandits and terrorists. "We cannot fold our arms anymore and wait for bandits and terrorists to be entering our homes, towns and villages to kidnap and kill at will. Enough is enough," the OPC statement read. Gani Adams, the Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland and OPC National Coordinator, also declared that Yoruba groups were prepared to mobilise millions of warriors to confront insecurity, provided they received formal invitation and authorisation from government authorities. These overlapping demands for a more aggressive, community‑led security response reflect a fundamental erosion of trust in Nigeria's conventional security architecture.
For Igboho, the path forward is fraught with political and legal uncertainty. His proposed 50,000-man force would require official approval from the Federal Government, South‑West governors, the police, the DSS and the military — a bureaucratic gauntlet that has historically stymied similar initiatives. The federal government has been deeply suspicious of regional security outfits since it declared Amotekun illegal in 2020, forcing the South‑West governors to re‑brand and restructure the initiative before it was eventually allowed to operate. Given the scale and nature of Iru Ekun — a 50,000-man force led by a figure still viewed with suspicion by the security establishment — it is far from certain that approval will be forthcoming. Igboho himself acknowledged this reality, repeatedly emphasising that he would not launch the operation without official authorisation.
Yet the question looming over Yorubaland is whether patience is a luxury the region can still afford. The May 15 school attack was not an isolated incident; it followed a pattern of escalating violence that has seen farmers kidnapped from their fields, travellers robbed on major highways, and communities abandoned as residents flee to safer towns. The Defence Headquarters may continue to insist that the South‑West has no permanent terrorist base, but the residents of Ahoro‑Esinele, Yawota and Esiele would likely disagree. Their children are missing. Their teacher is dead. And the 50,000 men that Igboho says are ready to storm the forests are still standing at attention, waiting for a government signature that may never come. For the families of the 46 abducted pupils and teachers, the difference between a promise and a rescue mission is measured in days, hours, and the fading hope that someone — anyone — will bring their children home.
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