Suspected bandits have abducted three wives and four children of the traditional ruler of Yashikira in Kwara State following a coordinated midnight attack on the community in Baruten Local Government Area.
The attack, which occurred between midnight and 2:00 a.m. on Monday, also targeted the local police divisional headquarters, with gunmen reportedly firing sporadically before invading the palace of the monarch, Alhaji Umar Seriki.
Residents said the attackers arrived in large numbers on motorcycles and overwhelmed local security operatives guarding the palace. According to eyewitness accounts, the armed men forced their way into the inner sections of the royal residence where members of the emir’s family were staying.
A resident who spoke anonymously due to security concerns said panic spread across the community as gunshots rang out through the night.
He disclosed that three wives of the emir and four children were abducted alongside several other residents, while some persons sustained injuries while trying to flee the area.
Another resident, Tukur Ahmed, said the assailants moved directly to the palace complex after entering the town.
According to him, the attackers broke into the inner quarters of the palace, abducted the victims, and later set vehicles within the palace premises ablaze before escaping.
Sources in the community said the traditional ruler was not inside the palace when the incident occurred.
The Kwara State Police Command confirmed the attack in a statement issued by the command’s spokesperson, Adetoun Ejire-Adeyemi, noting that 10 persons were abducted during the operation.
The police described the assault as a coordinated attack on both the Yashikira Police Divisional Headquarters and the emir’s palace.
According to the statement, police operatives successfully repelled the attack on the station despite the scale of the assault.
The Commissioner of Police, Ojo Adekimi, has reportedly ordered a full-scale tactical operation involving the military, police, forest guards, vigilantes, and other security stakeholders to rescue the victims and apprehend the attackers.
Security operatives have since launched search-and-rescue operations across nearby forests and suspected hideouts.
The command assured residents that additional deployments had been made to vulnerable communities and vowed not to yield to criminal intimidation.
The latest incident adds to growing insecurity across Kwara North, where communities in Kaiama, Baruten, Edu, and Patigi local government areas have witnessed rising cases of banditry, kidnappings, highway ambushes, and attacks on traditional institutions in recent months.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of Ekiti Local Government Area in Kwara State, Gabriel Awelewa, has announced an indefinite suspension of vigils in worship centres located in remote communities.
The directive followed a separate attack on worshippers at Ori-Oke Ajaiye near Ikerin-Opin, where gunmen reportedly killed three persons and abducted 15 others during a church vigil.
Awelewa said religious organisations in isolated areas had repeatedly been warned against holding overnight programmes in unsafe locations, stressing that public safety must take priority amid worsening insecurity.
He added that the council would continue working with the state government and security agencies to improve surveillance and secure the release of abducted victims.
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