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S’West govs to work together against ISWAP elements, bandits

States in the South-West region are jointly working out a strategy to combat the suspected rising influx of bandits and fighters from the Islamic State’s West Africa Province into some of the region’s forests.
Recall that last week, Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, warned that bandits fleeing military operations in the North-West were seeking refuge in the state.
He sounded this alarm at the 2025 annual inter-faith service for workers held at the Secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan, Makinde stated , “During a security briefing this morning, I learnt that some bad elements from the North-West are relocating here due to military heat in their zones. But we will find and deal with them.”
The Ogun State government also said it had contacted relevant security agencies, including the military and the police.
The Department of State Services recently arrested 10 suspected members of ISWAP in Ilesa, Osun State.
The arrest came to into public consciousness when the DSS sought an order of a Federal High Court in Abuja to detain the suspects for 60 days, an order Justice Emeka Nwite granted last week Friday.
Also, the Oodua People’s Congress implored all the six governors of the South-West to treat as a security emergency the building of camps inside Yoruba land forests by insurgents and terrorists fleeing the North, as it offered to help security agencies tackle the menace.
Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, said that he is consulting with his counterparts in Oyo, Osun, Ogun, Ondo and Ekiti states.
Making this known, his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Gboyega Akosile, stated that the governor, who is also the chairman of the South-West Governors’ Forum, receives daily intelligence on the state of security in the region.
“There is no empirical evidence that there are bandits in the South-West but on matters of security, you can never be over-prepared.
“The governor is receiving intelligence reports on different matters and he is in consultation with other governors from the South-West on how best to tackle the growing concern over security issues in the region,” Akosile told our correspondent in an interview.
“If you recall the inaugural meeting of the South-West Governors Forum, one of the major topics raised at the meeting was the security of the region, so they’ve been meeting on some of the ways to checkmate insecurity in the South-West.
“Basically, they’re studying the situation and there will be something done at the end of the day,” he added.
On the security situation, the Oyo State government allayed the fears of residents that he would leave no stone unturned to ensure the safety of everyone in the state.
The government, during a press briefing after the state’s joint security council meeting on Tuesday, said all hands were on deck to fish out the bandits and use the instrumentality of the law to deal with them.
The Special Adviser on Security to Oyo State Governor, Fatai Owoseni, in a statement by the Special Adviser (Media) to Oyo State Governor, Sulaimon Olanrewaju, urged the people to go about their lawful activities without any fear.
Owoseni said with the robust synergy among the security agencies in the state, the bandits and other criminal elements had nowhere to hide.
The Osun State government assured residents of the state of their safety, saying it was providing necessary support for security agencies to make the state unsafe for suspected terrorists and other criminals.
It assured residents that efforts were being geared towards keeping the state safe.
The Special Adviser to the Governor on Security, Mr Samuel Ojo, recently stated that Governor Ademola Adeleke’s administration’s support for security agencies has yielded result, citing the arrest of suspected ISWAP members in their attempt to establish the group in Osun.
Ojo said “If the government is not working, will they (ISWAP members) be arrested? So, the government is assisting the security ag