Another Kwara massacre feared as DSS issues alert, OPC calls for security emergency

The Department of State Services (DSS) in Kwara State has issued a security warning over a potential attack on Gbabe community in Baruten Local Government Area, heightening fears of fresh violence in the state.

The alert, sent to the Kwara State Police Command, comes barely days after a deadly attack on Woro community in Kaiama LGA that reportedly left scores of residents dead.

A copy of the intelligence report, dated February 5, 2026, and signed by the Kwara State Director of DSS, J.S. Adams, was addressed to the Commissioner of Police in Ilorin amid growing insecurity across the Kwara North axis.

Titled “Threat of Attack on Gbabe, Baruten LGA” and referenced S.122/1/1897, the letter warned of the movement and build-up of armed men suspected to be Mamuda elements around Kiyoru Settlement in Gwanara District.

According to the DSS, the intelligence points to a possible attack on Gbabe community, noting that residents have already expressed hostility toward the suspected armed elements.

The agency also cited the violent history of armed groups operating around the Kainji Lake National Park corridor and stressed the need for urgent preventive action.

“In view of the antecedents of armed groups around Kainji Lake National Park, there is a need to emplace necessary security measures to forestall any untoward development,” the DSS said, urging the police to treat the information with urgency to prevent a breakdown of law and order.

The warning has further unsettled residents and community leaders, especially following the Woro attack, where gunmen reportedly killed scores of people and forced many others to flee. Eyewitnesses said the attackers operated from forest routes linking Kaiama and Baruten LGAs and extending toward the Benin Republic—an area security agencies have long identified as vulnerable.

While security presence has reportedly been reinforced in parts of Kaiama, residents of Baruten LGA have expressed anxiety over the fresh threat.

In response, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq convened an emergency security council meeting on Monday night at the Ahmadu Bello House in Ilorin, bringing together heads of security agencies in the state.

The governor said the meeting was aimed at reviewing the security situation and strengthening coordinated efforts to neutralise emerging threats.

“As part of our multi-layered response to the recent terrorist attack in Kaiama LGA, I summoned an emergency security council meeting today,” AbdulRazaq said, adding that security commanders briefed the government on strategies to protect lives and property.

Earlier, Governors Usman Ododo of Kogi State and Biodun Oyebanji of Ekiti State accompanied AbdulRazaq to visit victims of the Woro attack receiving treatment at the General Hospital in Ilorin.

Oyebanji expressed solidarity with the people of Kwara State and commended the Federal Government and security agencies for their swift response, noting that the victims were stable but still under close medical observation.

Meanwhile, the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) has called on governors of the South-West, Kwara, Kogi, and other Yoruba-speaking states to immediately declare a state of emergency over worsening insecurity.

The call was made in a statement issued Tuesday by Kazeem Lawal, Chairman of Dr. Frederick Fasehun’s OPC Caretaker Committee, following the killing of more than 100 people in Woro and Nuku communities of Kaiama LGA.

Describing the killings as “heartbreaking and provocative,” the OPC demanded decisive action against what it described as jihadist terrorists, urging security forces to hunt them down without delay.

Lawal warned governors against politicising the security crisis and instead called for regional collaboration to deliver swift and effective solutions.

“Governors of the 10 Yoruba-speaking states must immediately declare a state of emergency on security to reflect the gravity of the situation. With the activities of terrorists, bandits and jihadists, all Nigerians face an existential threat,” he said.

The OPC further urged the Federal Government, the Kwara State Government, and security agencies to launch a massive manhunt to track down and bring the perpetrators to justice.

“Those who committed this heinous act are not spirits. All available resources must be mobilised to hunt down, arrest, prosecute and neutralise these killers,” the statement added.