Kwara Youths Block Highway After Church Attack

About 24 hours after bandits launched a deadly attack, youths of Eruku in Ekiti Local Government Area of Kwara State blocked the Ilorin–Kabba highway on Wednesday in protest.

The demonstration, which began early in the morning, led to a gridlock that left dozens of trailers and commercial vehicles heading toward Kogi State stranded.

The protest came after livestreams from the scene captured the moment armed men attacked the Christ Apostolic Church in the community and killed three worshippers. .

Residents said the attack lasted for nearly an hour without any intervention from security agencies stationed around the town.

One of the protesters, Adesuyi Joshua, said, “We have soldiers around this place. We also have a police station, but nothing was done throughout the attack.

“They took my wife and our granddaughter, who were in the church, along with about 30 other people. At first, we thought the gunshots were knockouts, but the sound changed. By the time we mobilised ourselves to confront the attackers, it was too late,” he told Punch.

A youth leader, Shola Peters Adetona, accused the police of negligence and complicity, insisting that the community’s long-standing support for the police had not been reciprocated.

“These are the same police officers the town supported; we built houses for the DPO and men. When we needed them most, they failed us.

“Instead of joining us to pursue the bandits, they stopped us. The Inspector General needs to probe the Eruku division. All they do here is harass young boys and tag them as Yahoo boys or cultists.”

The traditional ruler of Eruku, Iowa Eruku Oba Busari Arinde Oyediran Olanrewaju, urged residents to remain calm and allow security agencies to handle the situation.

“I want to appeal to our youths not to take matters into their own hands. Allow security agencies to do their work.

“We need more personnel and more checkpoints because many of the bandits chased from Babanla and Baba Sango forests are hiding around this axis.”

In an attempt to stabilise the situation, the Commissioner of Police, CP Adekimi Ojo, announced the deployment of additional personnel to reinforce security in Eruku.

He made this known during his visit to the community alongside the Kwara State Director of the Department of State Services.

“We will bring the perpetrators to justice. We are deploying more men and resources to secure this area.

“The CP is leading a strategic evaluation of the incident, ensuring adequate deployment of personnel and resources to rescue the victims, arrest perpetrators, restore confidence, and maintain law and order within the community,” a statement by SP Adetoun Ejire-Adeyemi of the Kwara State Police Command noted.

THE WHISTLER reports that the Kwara attack occurred less than 48 hours after 25 schoolgirls were abducted in Kebbi State.