The South West Security Stakeholder Group (SSSG) said it is determined to partner with South West governors to address the security scourge across the region, and vowed to resist any attempt to threaten the peace and security of the region. southwest.
Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, during the 2025 annual interfaith service held in Ibadan, had raised the alarm that insurgents and terrorists fleeing military shelling in the North were moving into the state and other states in the South-West. and they were building camps. in the forests.
SSSG made the vow at the end of the quarterly strategic meeting held on Wednesday at the palace of the Aareona kakanfo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Adams, saying its determination was a strategic response to the reported influx of bandits and Islamic States fighters from Province of West Africa in some of the Southwestern forests.
The group said this in a statement issued by its spokesperson, Adewole Ireti, sadly noting that the influx of ISWAP and bandits into the region was a major threat that deserved a drastic and urgent approach.
SSSG, however, revealed that it had concluded plans and strategies to combat the wave of insecurity in Yorubaland and beyond, saying it had contacted all security structures in the region to ensure Southwest was protected.
The security outfit, while insisting on expressing its readiness to keep ISWAP elements and bandits at bay and not sit back in allowing evil men to invade the region, implored the six southwestern governors to look into their “request to join with them.” to protect the forests.”
“The report that ISWAP and bandits are in our forests in the southwest is disturbing, especially for a region that has everything it takes to end insecurity in the region.
“We have concluded our plans and strategies to combat the wave of insecurity in Yorubaland and beyond.
“Our strategy meeting today is to protect the southwest region from ISWAP elements and bandits who are devastating the southwest.
“We implore governors to consider our request to partner with them to protect forests.
“It's about using the best approach to keep all stakeholders on their toes. “We are ready to keep ISWAP elements and bandits at bay and will not sit back and allow evil men to invade our region,” the group stated.
SSSG, however, urged residents across Yorubaland not to panic, assuring that efforts were being made to address the security deficit in the region.
Leaders of the 15 groups present at the meeting include the Oodua People's Congress (OPC), the Agbekoya Society, the Vigilante Group of Nigeria (VGN), the Professional Hunters, the Jahun Vigilante, the Agbekoya Peace Movement, the Agbekoya Solidarity, COMSAIC, Isokan Ile Oodua, Egbe. Obinrin Oodua Agbaye, Omo Oduduwa United, among others.
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