The Department of State Services (DSS) has reportedly arrested a medical doctor accused of transporting medical supplies from Sokoto State to armed kidnapping syndicates operating across parts of Kwara State.
According to a statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Rafiu Ajakaye, the suspect was intercepted in the Jebba area following actionable intelligence on the growing activities of kidnap gangs and their support networks.
Security officials revealed that the criminal groups have recently become desperate for medical attention, as several members are believed to have sustained gunshot wounds during clashes with security forces. “We are advising heightened security in health facilities located in heavily forested areas, which the kidnappers may attempt to infiltrate,” a security source warned.
Rising Wave of Insecurity in Kwara
Kwara State has witnessed a disturbing escalation in bandit attacks in recent months.
In November, gunmen abducted 38 worshippers and killed three others in the Eruku community. The same area also recorded the abduction of a farmer along the Eruku–Koro Road by four armed assailants wielding AK-47 rifles and cutlasses.
A community leader, who declined to be named, recounted that the attackers stormed the area during routine working hours and kidnapped one Annas Aasanru, a native of Eruku.
The state also recorded the abduction of the Ojibara of Bayagan, Oba Kamilu Salami, in Ifelodun Local Government Area. However, on December 1, the monarch and six others managed to escape after a coordinated offensive by local vigilantes who launched an aggressive assault on the kidnappers’ hideouts.
In another incident in Bokungi Village, Edu Local Government Area, gunmen abducted four rice farmers while they were working during the peak harvest season. Sources said the attackers appeared suddenly, surrounded the farmers as they gathered their produce, and—meeting no resistance—forced them into a nearby bush before whisking them away to an unknown location.
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