By Stephen Kefas
Having researched and investigated rigorously the Fulani ethnic militia activities in Nigeria, I remember telling an editor two years ago that the militants were planning to expand their violence campaigns to the southwest through Kwara. He looked at me and asked what evidence I had. I told him that new fighters were being recruited, some from the Sahel, and they were already moving through Kebbi to Niger state and would subsequently reach Kwara and parts of Kogi states.
He dismissed my claims as conspiracy theory, but I knew what I knew regardless.
When the violence started in Kwara, he called me and said, “How did you know about all these things?” I told him: I am a field researcher who is always on the ground, interacting with sources, therefore I am privileged to access lots of information.
Kwara isn’t the end. The plan is to invade Oyo and other southwest states after Kwara in a fashion that Amotekun, the southwest security outfit, cannot withstand.
In the last 48 hours alone, over 300 farmers have been murdered across Nigeria, yet the government is more interested in the next election and who decamps to the APC. No outrage, nobody is losing his or her job for failing the slain farmers, all seems fair to the government.
The systematic expansion of militia violence across Nigeria demands immediate and decisive action. What was once dismissed as speculation is now a tragic reality. If the pattern continues unchecked, the southwest will face the same devastating violence that has plagued other regions. The government’s silence in the face of over 300 farming families grieving their dead in just 48 hours is not just negligence, it is complicity. Nigeria’s leaders must prioritize the security and lives of citizens over political ambitions, or risk the complete breakdown of safety and trust across the nation. The warning signs are clear; the question is whether anyone in power is listening.
Stephen Kefas, a researcher, contributed this article via his X handle @SJefason
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