By Sar Terver
Kwara State, once regarded as one of the calmer parts of Nigeria’s North-Central region, has been shaken in 2025 by a string of violent attacks that many residents say represent the worst wave of insecurity in the state’s recent history.
From distant border villages to religious centres and farmland, the assaults have grown bolder, deadlier and more frequent, leaving communities terrified and authorities scrambling to respond.
The fierce attack on Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) in Eruku on the evening of November 18 became the starkest symbol of this shift when gunmen stormed a revival service, opened fire on worshippers and reportedly abducted 36 in a raid that residents described as unprecedented. That incident, according to investigation was not an isolated event, but part of a troubling pattern that has intensified through the year.
Across 2025, multiple conventional media reports have traced the trajectory of violence sweeping through parts of Kwara, particularly its southern corridor.
Earlier in the year, gunmen struck Gada Woro in Edu Local Government Area, leaving vigilantes dead and security personnel wounded.
In September, they attacked Oke-Ode in Ifelodun LGA, killing the community head and several forest guards in what analysts considered a bold escalation.
As the months rolled on, the attacks began to show a distinct pattern: quick-moving armed groups, often believed to be herders-turned-bandits or criminal elements operating from surrounding forests, targeting border settlements where security presence is thin and response time slow.
The Eruku incident, however, jolted the entire state because of its location and the manner in which it was executed.
According to the Kwara Police Command, the Divisional Police Officer and local vigilantes rushed to the scene after hearing gunshots from the outskirts of the town. But by the time they arrived, the attackers had already dispersed into the bush. They left behind a trail of casualties, including worshippers shot inside the church and others hit while attempting to flee.
A vigilante, Segun Alaja, sustained gunshot injuries and was rushed to hospital. In the chaos of the raid, roughly 38 worshippers were taken away. Within two days, families began receiving calls from the abductors, who demanded an astonishing ₦100 million ransom for each victim.
A community leader, Chief Olusegun Olukotun, confirmed that four of his relatives were among the abductees and described surviving the attack himself by jumping through a church window.
The scale of the assault prompted swift condemnation. Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Rafiu Ajakaye, described the raid as “unconscionable” and requested immediate deployment of more security operatives to Ekiti Local Government Area, particularly the Eruku axis.
He pledged that his administration would not relent until the attackers are neutralised and peace restored.
The Emir of Ilorin and Chairman of the Kwara State Traditional Rulers Council, Mai-Martaba Alhaji Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari, also condemned the attack, calling it “most unfortunate, condemnable and worrisome.”
Religious bodies voiced their feelings. The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Kwara chapter, described the attack as a direct assault on the sanctity of the church and the first of such magnitude in Kwara’s recent memory. CAN officials visited Eruku to pray with victims’ families and called for immediate rescue operations.
Yet, as authorities condemned the raid, the violence continued. Less than 24 hours after the Eruku assault, gunmen invaded Bokungi village in Edu LGA and abducted four rice farmers who were harvesting their fields.
Witness accounts indicated that the attackers surrounded the farmers and forced them into the forest. The proximity of this attack to the Eruku incident deepened fears of a coordinated pattern of raids across the state’s border communities.
Channels Television reported that several other killings were recorded in the surrounding areas during the same period, signalling that the threat was spreading rather than receding.
For many residents, the question that lingers is: why has Kwara, a state previously spared the extreme levels of violence seen in other parts of the North-Central, suddenly become so vulnerable in 2025?
A community leader in Kwara who preferred anonymity, in a phone in interview with this reporter, point to several factors, including spillovers from insecurity in neighbouring states, porous forest corridors that criminal groups exploit, and lingering tensions between farming communities and armed herders.
Some of the attacks bear the unmistakable fingerprints of organised criminal networks skilled in kidnappings-for-ransom, operating with mobility and knowledge of local terrains.
“What is happening in Kwara today is partly the fault of some of our people. They accommodated those bandits for over a decade. In one of the communities, an indigene gave his daughter into marriage to one of the bandits and their child is 15 years today. Imagine that kind of thing.
“The bandits are well rooted in Kwara now. They used to go and kill people in Kogi State and come back to camp in Kwara without attacking the residents. But now, they have started killing and kidnapping people anyhow “, the source lamented.
In several communities, local youths openly lament what they call inconsistent or delayed security responses despite years of contributions to community policing and the building of security facilities.
In response to growing fears, the Kwara State Government announced new security measures in schools across five local government areas, Ifelodun; Ekiti, Irepodun, Isin, and Oke Ero, where intelligence reports suggested that fleeing criminals might attempt to abduct schoolchildren as human shields.
Boarding schools in Irepodun were placed under heightened monitoring until further notice. Authorities also intensified collaboration with vigilante groups, traditional rulers and intelligence networks to track the movements of armed gangs across the state’s southern border.
The human toll of these attacks is staggering and deeply personal. Families in Eruku are still waiting for the safe return of their loved ones. Farmers in Edu are afraid to return to their fields, risking food shortages and economic strain.
Religious communities are grappling with trauma from witnessing violence in sacred spaces. Each new incident feeds a growing sense of vulnerability and a fear that the attackers are becoming more organised and more confident.
For some, the government’s response offers a little hope, especially with increased military presence and public assurances of intensified operations. But many residents say the real test lies in sustaining these efforts long enough to dismantle the networks behind the attacks rather than briefly scattering them.
The violence of 2025 has made one reality clear: Kwara’s security challenges can no longer be dismissed as isolated incidents. They represent a widening threat that demands continuous intelligence-driven operations, stronger community-based security structures and decisive political will.
As the state confronts this difficult moment, one thing remains constant, the resilience of its communities.
In Eruku, Bokungi, Oke-Ode and other affected localities, residents continue to organise, support one another and push for action. Their message is the same everywhere: they want safety that lasts, justice for victims and a Kwara where worshippers do not fear the night and farmers do not fear the fields.
The year is ending on a sombre note, but the people’s resolve to reclaim their peace remains unbroken.
