Your Excellencies,
Governors of Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ondo, and Ekiti States
Distinguished Senators and Honorable Members,
National Assembly Representatives of the Southwest Zone.
Southern Nigeria Under Siege: A Call for Urgent and Decisive Action Against the Fulani Kidnapping Cartels
With the utmost sense of urgency and deep concern, I write you regarding the escalating siege on Southern Nigeria, particularly the Southwest, by well-organized and highly coordinated Fulani kidnapping cartels. The level of terror, kidnappings, and violence that has plagued our region for years has now reached a tipping point. The recent abduction of Prince Eniola Ojajuni, an APC youth leader, has exposed the scale of this crisis—our forests have become strongholds for criminal networks, and our people live in daily fear.
For years, under the previous administration, these atrocities were dismissed as mere “farmer-herdsmen clashes.” This negligence allowed a small security threat to metastasize into a full-blown insurgency. Many Nigerians in the South had hoped that with a southern president at the helm, decisive action would be taken to reclaim our lands and secure our people. But today, we are met with a deafening silence, and the question on every lip is: Why is nothing done about this young Fulani criminals?
If bandits can operate freely, establish camps, and hold victims for ransom deep in our forests, then something is fundamentally broken in Nigeria’s security framework. Is it incompetence or complicity? The reality is grim: this kidnapping industry has thrived without fear of consequence. What started as isolated attacks on rural communities has grown into an organized, strategic assault on the entire region. Lagos and other key economic zones in the South are now in the crosshairs of these criminals.
Mr. President, history will judge your administration by how you respond to this existential threat. The South cannot afford another cycle of federal neglect, where our people are kidnapped, brutalized, raped and murdered without recourse. If these criminals are not crushed now, their operations will expand, and by the time power rotates back to the North, any effort to reclaim the region may be too little, and too late.
A Call to Action for the President, Governors, and Lawmakers
1- Decisive Federal Intervention: I urge you, Mr. President, to authorize a full-scale military operation to dismantle these kidnapping cartels. The same level of force used to fight Boko Haram must be applied to these criminals operating in our forests. Anything less is a negligence of your duty to protect your own people.
2- Regional Security Empowerment: Our Southwest governors can no longer wait for Abuja to act. With increased federal allocations, there is no excuse for inaction. Governors must immediately invest in:
Surveillance drones to track and dismantle kidnapper camps.
Centralized intelligence hubs for proactive security responses.
Inter-state security coordination to ensure no safe havens exist for these criminals.
3- Legislative Reforms to Strengthen Amotekun and Other Regional Forces:
State security outfits must be legally empowered to carry sophisticated weapons and access cutting-edge security technology.
Urgent legislative bills must be passed to remove the bureaucratic barriers that keep our security forces under-equipped and ineffective.
Southern lawmakers must unite in pushing for security laws that put the safety of their constituents first.
Mr. President, This is Your Defining Moment. Your administration stands at a crossroads. Will you be remembered as the leader who defended his people, or as the one who watched them perish while criminals thrived?
Our governors must rise to the occasion. Security infrastructure must be prioritized. Intelligence networks must be strengthened. Lawmakers must ensure that regional security forces are no longer hamstrung by outdated legal restrictions.
We are at the edge of a precipice. If this government fails to act now, history will not judge it kindly. The kidnappings, terror, and bloodshed must stop NOW. Security must be restored, or the consequences will haunt the region for generations to come.
Mr. President, the time for action is now.
Yours in the service of the people,
Idowu Faleye
Ado-Ekiti,
Ekiti-State
Leave a Reply