DSS Warns Of Another Possible Kwara Attack, OPC Declares Emergency

The Department of State Service, Kwara State command, has issued a security alert to the Kwara State Police Command, warning of a possible attack on the Gbabe community in Baruten Local Government Area.

The alert comes days after a deadly assault on the Woro community in Kaiama LGA, which left scores of residents dead.

A of the letter, signed by the State Director of DSS in Kwara, J.S. Adams, and dated February 5, 2026, was addressed to the Commissioner of Police, Kwara State Command Headquarters, Ilorin, amid rising insecurity across the Kwara North axis.

The letter, referenced S.122/1/1897 and titled Threat of Attack on Gbabe, Baruten LGA, warned of the movement and build-up of armed men suspected to be Mamuda elements around Kiyoru Settlement in Gwanara District.

“Report indicates possible threat of attack by armed group, on Gbabe Community, Gwanara District, Baruten Local Government Area (LGA), Kwara State. This stemmed from the build-up of armed men suspected to be Mamuda elements around Kiyoru Settlement, even as the villagers have expressed hostility towards the elements,” the letter read.

It further highlighted the history of violent activities by armed groups operating around Kainji Lake National Park and stressed the need for heightened vigilance in communities within the corridor.

“In view of the antecedents of armed groups around Kainji Lake National Park, there is a need to emplace necessary security measures to forestall any untoward development,” the DSS added.

The letter urged the police to treat the intelligence with urgency and take appropriate measures to prevent a breakdown of law and order.

“Respectfully forwarded for your attention and necessary action, please,” it concluded.

The alert has heightened concerns among residents and local leaders, coming days after the Woro attack, where armed men reportedly killed scores and forced survivors to flee. Eyewitnesses indicated that the attackers operated from forested areas spanning Kaiama and Baruten LGAs and extending towards the Benin Republic, a route security agencies have repeatedly identified as vulnerable.

As of the time of filing, security deployments had been reinforced in parts of Kaiama following the Woro incident, while residents of Baruten LGA expressed anxiety over the threat outlined in the DSS letter.

Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq also convened an emergency security council meeting with heads of security agencies on Monday night at Ahmadu Bello House, Ilorin.

The governor said the meeting aimed to review the security situation and strengthen coordinated efforts to neutralise emerging threats.

“As part of our multi-layered response to the recent terrorist attack in Kaiama LGA, I summoned an emergency security council meeting at the Ahmadu Bello House in Ilorin today,” AbdulRazaq said.

The governor received briefings from all the security commanders in the state and discussed strategies to neutralise all threats to citizens and secure lives and property.

Earlier, Governor Usman Ododo (Kogi) and Biodun Oyebanji (Ekiti) had accompanied AbdulRazaq to visit victims of the Woro attack receiving treatment at the General Hospital, Ilorin.

“We stand in solidarity with the people of Kwara State over this unfortunate incident.

“We also commend the Federal Government and security agencies for the swift response. The victims are stable but remain under close watch in the intensive care unit,” Oyebanji said.

The Yoruba socio-cultural group, the Oodua People’s Congress, has urged governors of the South-West zone, Kwara, Kogi and other states described as “Yoruba-speaking” to immediately declare a state of emergency over escalating insecurity.

The OPC made the call in a statement issued by the Chairman of Dr. Frederick Fasehun’s OPC Caretaker Committee, Kazeem Lawal, on Tuesday.

The statement followed the recent killing of over 100 persons in Woro and Nuku communities in Kaiama Local Government Area of Kwara State.

The OPC described the killings as heartbreaking and provocative, insisting that the jihadist terrorists who committed the crime must be hunted down and shot on the spot by security agents.

Lawal cautioned governors of the South-West and other states with Yoruba-speaking indigenes against politicising the prevailing insecurity, urging them instead to collaborate in proffering and procuring rapid solutions.

“Governors of the 10 Yoruba-speaking states must immediately declare a state of emergency on security to reflect the gravity of the situation. With these rampaging terrorists, bandits and jihadists and their activities, all Nigerians face an existential threat, and all hands must be mobilised to identify, locate and neutralise these evil monsters,” Lawal said.

The organisation urged the Federal Government, the Kwara State Government and security agencies to declare a massive manhunt to locate and apprehend the killers.

“Those who committed this dastardly act are not spirits. All available resources must be mobilised to hunt down, arrest, prosecute and annihilate these killers,” Lawal said.

Lawal said the only way to redress last week’s killings in Kwara communities was through the apprehension, prosecution and execution of those responsible.

“Such cold-blooded killers do not deserve a second chance. They should be shot on sight to give them a dose of their own medicine and serve as a deterrent to others planning to follow in their evil footsteps. These killers have committed a wicked crime against God and humanity and must be made to suffer supreme punishment,” he said.

Declaring its readiness to defend Yoruba land and people, the OPC warned that it would not allow terrorists to fester and overwhelm the South-West as they have, according to it, done in the North.

“We shall not cede the land of our birth to Fulani herdsmen and Islamist jihadists,” Lawal said. “We will defend ourselves and will not fold our hands while foreigners invade our lands, kidnapping, raping, pillaging and killing at will.

“Whatever criminalities bandits, jihadists and terrorists have perpetrated in the North should remain in the North, because we Yoruba people will not tolerate such in our homelands.

“Nigerians wonder why the authorities continue to pamper these hoodlums. Why are agencies not arresting anyone found roaming with AK-47 assault rifles? Instead, the security agencies that are supposed to defend the lives and assets of our people choose to go after those who muster the courage to defend themselves.

“We will not seek or wait for permission from anyone to defend ourselves with everything at our disposal. As we have done in the past, the OPC shall do everything to defend our land and people.”

The group urged the Nigeria Police, other security agencies and the Armed Forces to be proactive rather than reactionary in tackling non-state actors troubling the country.

According to the OPC, the heightened insecurity appeared to be a ploy deliberately targeted at undermining the government of President Bola Tinubu.