A youth leader from Ndanakun village in Patigi Local Government Area of Kwara State has raised the alarm over what he described as a complete collopse of security in the community following persistent attacks by armed groups.
He said three villagers had been kidnapped, while the rest of the population have fled.
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The young man, who did not reveal his name for fear of reprisal, recorded a video from the deserted settlement on Sunday. The footage shows empty compounds, closed houses and an abandoned church.
“As you can see, everyone has fled the community for their life,” he said. “You cannot find anyone here because bandits and kidnappers are coming in daily to terrorise us and kidnap people.”
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He said Ndanakun, which he estimated to have more than one thousand residents, had been emptied for about two weeks. According to him, villagers now move only in daylight to check on their farms or pick a few belongings, returning to safer locations before nightfall.
“Some people come in the daytime to take care of their farming produce but at night they return to where they are staying,” he said while filming the empty church. “Today is Sunday, but no single person is in this church.”
The youth leader said three villagers were being held by the attackers.
“The kidnappers are demanding hundreds of millions for them to free the abductees,” he said. He added that most families could not raise such sums and that the ransom demands had worsened fear in the community.
He said farming activities had stopped because of repeated abductions on farmlands.
“Our farms are due for harvest but we cannot go. If you go, the bandits will come and kidnap you. If you refuse to follow them, they will kill you,” he said.
The youth leader said he sneaked into the village on Sunday to assess the situation. He visited the residence of the village head, but no one was present.
“All the houses are here but no single person is in this community,” he said. “We don’t know what we have done to the government. They have refused to come to our aid.”
He said armed groups had raided the village several times in the past month.
“They came earlier and killed villagers. We thought it was over, but what they are doing now is worse,” he said.
“They come with sophisticated weapons. How can we confront them? We cannot because we don’t have such weapons.”
He said anyone who attempted to resist the attackers received violent threats. “If you have a motorbike in this community, there will be a problem because they will hunt you until they collect it,” he said.
He appealed to the federal government, the Kwara State Government and the chairman of Patigi Local Government to deploy security personnel who can stop the attacks.
“We are pleading again that they should send us security that will rescue us from this situation,” he said.
Recent incidents heighten fears
The distress from Ndanakun follows a pattern of escalating attacks across Kwara North.
Last week, the state police command announced that a joint team of officers and vigilantes killed a suspected bandit during an operation at Adekanbi village in Moro Local Government Area.
The police said they recovered an AK-49 rifle and 32 rounds of ammunition after the gunfight.
According to the command’s spokesperson, Adetoun Ejire-Adeyemi, the operation was part of efforts “to dislodge criminal elements across identified flashpoints in the state.”
On Sunday night, another attack occurred in Rogun, a community in Kpada District of Patigi Local Government Area.
Two security operatives, a police constabulary and a vigilante, were killed after armed men stormed a police outpost. Residents told SaharaReporters that the gunfire forced families to run into nearby bushes.
In Oreke, Ifelodun Local Government Area, two senior community chiefs were abducted last week after residents returned home after assurances from state authorities. The kidnappings triggered another wave of displacement.
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The recurring violence in Patigi, Ifelodun and parts of Moro has raised concerns about the growing presence of armed groups along the Kwara-Kogi corridor.
Residents say many villages remain anxious due to the absence of permanent military or police deployments in remote areas.
As of Monday evening, police authorities in Patigi had yet to respond to enquiries on the latest situation in Ndanakun or the condition of the three abducted villagers.
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