Anxiety in Southwest states over threats of attack by terrorists

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The activities of terrorist groups are no doubt a big source of worry for both the government and citizens. The groups had previously limited their activities to the Northwest and the Northeast, but buoyed by their success in the two zones, they moved to the North Central, where they have been wreaking havoc. The matter assumed a more worrisome dimension with a secret memo released by the secret police to the effect that terrorist groups could make inroads into the Southwest. GBENGA ADERANTI reports on how the new threat could be arrested.

Until the deadly attack on the Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State, on June 5, 2022, wherein 41 worshippers lost their lives, and many others were badly injured, few people had imagined that the Southwest region could fall under the radar of terrorist groups that had been threatening some parts of the country.

But the attack, combined with the recent warning of clear and present danger by the Department of State Services, has made nonsense of that belief.

On Tuesday, October 21, the DSS had warned of a plot by the Islamic State West Africa Province to attack Ondo and Kogi states, sending shock waves through the spines of not only the residents of Ondo but also other states in the Southwest.

Before then, the only semblance of the threat in the Southwest had been the activities of criminally minded herdsmen in various communities in Oke-Ogun, Oyo State. The fierce resistance by Yoruba Nation agitators led by Chief Sunday Adeyemo a.k.a. Sunday Igboho, the activities of the South West Security Network also known as the Amotekun Corps as well as the activities of local hunters, however, nipped the threat in the bud.

But while the inhabitants of Oyo communities may be enjoying respite, the same cannot be said of residents of Ondo communities. A letter by the secret police titled, ‘Imminent Attacks in Ondo State by Members of ISWAP’, has thrown many communities in the Southwest into anxiety.

In a confidential letter addressed to the Commander of the 32 Artillery Brigade, Akure, the secret police warned of “imminent attacks” by ISWAP terrorists and urged heightened surveillance and security deployment across vulnerable areas.

The letter signed by H. I. Kana on behalf of the State Director of Security, intelligence, confirmed plans by members of the Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) to carry out coordinated attacks on communities in Ondo and Kogi states any time soon.

The letter read in part: “It was further gathered that the group has commenced surveillance on potential soft targets in the above-mentioned locations. Consequently, there is a need to scale up the level of security alertness in the various communities to forestall any untoward situation.”