Bandits Threaten To Kidnap Schoolchildren In Ogun Communities As Local Hunters Plead For Better Weapons

Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.

Residents of Odeda Local Government Area in Ogun State are living in a state of heightened anxiety following reports that suspected kidnappers have circulated written threats on social media, warning of imminent mass abductions of schoolchildren in specific towns and villages across the council area. The disturbing development, which comes barely two weeks after a petrol station manager was abducted at gunpoint in the same locality, has prompted local hunters to make an impassioned appeal to the state government for modern weaponry, ammunition and logistics support, arguing that they are severely outgunned by criminal elements who appear to be operating with near impunity.

Speaking during a radio programme monitored on Smash 88.1 FM in Abeokuta, the Chairman of the Hunters’ Association in Odeda Local Government Area, Festus Ogundairo, confirmed that the security situation in the area has degenerated into an acute crisis. According to him, the threats circulating on social media platforms have explicitly named specific communities within the council area, raising panic among parents, teachers and school authorities. “What is becoming more disturbing is what we are seeing on social media platforms—reports that bandits have sent letters threatening to come and kidnap schoolchildren,” Ogundairo said in Yoruba. He added that security personnel have already commenced preventive deployments, but confessed that local hunters remain outgunned and ill‑equipped to confront the criminals.

The hunters’ leader drew attention to a recent kidnapping that occurred in Odeda around 7:00 p.m., noting that the victim—a manager of a filling station located near a major secondary school—was seized by armed men and only released after a hefty ransom was paid. That incident, he argued, highlights the vulnerability of educational facilities in the vicinity and underscores the urgent need for proactive community‑based security measures. “It is true that these incidents are not happening only in Odeda, but the situation here is particularly worrisome,” Ogundairo stated.

In a direct appeal to Governor Dapo Abiodun and security agencies, the hunters’ boss pleaded for authorised firearms, ammunition and operational motorcycles to enable his members to patrol the rugged forest terrains and remote borders where conventional security forces find it difficult to operate. “We need bullets and good guns to battle these terrorists,” Ogundairo said. “Even though the law restricts us from carrying sophisticated weapons, the government should at least provide us with the ones we are permitted to use. We are ready to confront these criminals with them.” He also requested a fleet of motorcycles to improve mobility during patrols across difficult terrains and isolated villages.

Emphasising that local hunters possess an unmatched understanding of the geography of the council area, Ogundairo maintained that seamless collaboration between community‑based vigilantes and formal security forces remains the state’s best defence against rural banditry. “We were born here and we know the terrain well,” the group said in a collective appeal, urging the government to allow them to work closely with the police and other security agencies to secure the area.

The alarm raised by the hunters has been echoed by other stakeholders. The Foundation for the Protection of Human Rights (FPHR) recently issued a statement noting that Ijebuland in particular, and Ogun State in general, has become a safe haven for criminal gangs, including terrorists, kidnappers, bandits and armed robbers who are operating freely and perpetrating their criminal activities unchallenged. The group also claimed that the Ikangba/Agoro‑Okun Owa axis of the Old Lagos‑Benin Road in Odogbolu Local Government Area has become a kidnapping hotspot, citing multiple abductions since February 2026.

The renewed fears in Odeda are not isolated. Across the South‑West, communities are grappling with a surge in banditry and kidnapping that has shattered the region’s erstwhile reputation for relative safety. On May 15, 2026, suspected armed bandits executed a coordinated raid on three schools in the Ahoro‑Esinele and Yawota communities of Oriire Local Government Area in Oyo State, abducting no fewer than 45 pupils along with teachers, including a principal, and killing a mathematics teacher, Michael Oyedokun, who was later beheaded by his captors. That attack, which has drawn nationwide condemnation, has been described by security analysts as a southward spread of school‑targeted banditry, with experts warning that jihadists and bandits are increasingly cooperating across state lines.

In response to the growing threat, the Ogun State Police Command has announced that it has intensified security operations to prevent kidnapping and other related violent crimes across the state. The command’s spokesperson, SP Oluseyi Babaseyi, said on Wednesday that surveillance operations are in place to check any security threats. However, for the residents of Odeda, such assurances offer little comfort. The threat letters, which are said to have been widely circulated on social media, have left parents in a state of paralysis, with many contemplating keeping their children at home rather than risk sending them to school.

The hunters’ appeal also raises a fundamental question about the appropriate role of local security networks in Nigeria’s counter‑insurgency architecture. While the federal government has previously resisted calls to arm local vigilantes, citing legal and constitutional constraints, the increasing frequency of attacks in rural communities has led to a renewed debate about the need to integrate community‑based groups into formal security frameworks. In many parts of the South‑West, local hunters and Amotekun operatives have served as first responders during attacks because they are familiar with the environment and movement patterns within forests and isolated roads that provide hideouts for kidnappers and armed gangs. The Ogun State Government has yet to respond directly to the hunters’ appeal for weapons, but the issue is likely to feature prominently in upcoming security meetings.

As the sun set over Odeda on Friday, May 22, 2026, the anxiety remained palpable. Parents hurried to pick up their children from schools, and after‑dark movements were kept to a minimum. For Festus Ogundairo and his team of hunters, the wait for a response from the authorities continues. “We are ready to confront these criminals,” he said. “All we need is the tools to do the job.” Until then, the children of Odeda will go to school with the spectre of the next threat letter hanging over their heads, and a community will hold its breath, hoping that the next knock on the door is not from armed men, but from the help they have been pleading for.

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