Yoruba Union Mulls No Confidence Vote on Governor
By Onibiyo Segun
(Ilorin, Kwara state) – The Yoruba Union in Kwara group said it is furious over the worsening violence in Kwara State. The Union has given Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq seven days to act or face a public vote of no confidence.
“We can no longer sit idle while our ancestral lands are turned into killing fields,” declared the group in a statement signed by a Yoruba group ‘Ìgbìmọ̀ Májékóbájé Ìlẹ̀ Yorùbá’ (the Yoruba Union) represented by the group’s convener, Olusola Badero, and its Home Director, Princess Balogun.
This call followed an attack on Saturday, August 9, 2025, when residents of Babanla and surrounding communities in Ifelodun county in Kwara State, fled en masse after more than 200 armed militants of the Mahmuda faction of Boko Haram stormed the area on motorcycles from multiple directions. The terrorists overran the Divisional Police Headquarters, killing five people (including a police officer), looted the main market, abducted villagers, and forced more than 3,000 residents to abandon their homes.
Security Votes: A Black Box of Cash
Across Nigeria, state governors receive a discretionary “security vote,” often amounting to hundreds of millions of naira each month. Officially, these funds are for emergency response to threats like terrorism and banditry. But they are notorious for their lack of oversight and auditing, making them lightning rods for corruption.
At the center of the Union’s anger is the governor’s “security vote,” which, to some voters, is an opaque slush fund: unregulated, unaudited, and often abused. States such as Delta receive as much as N2 billion – roughly about $1.3 million to $1.4 million USD monthly in security votes, yet rural areas remain undefended.
Security Vote Allocation by Kwara State
In its 2025 fiscal year, the Kwara State Government allocated just ₦350 million – about $230,000 USD, for its security vote, funds meant to protect lives and property. That number is dwarfed by the ₦1.4 billion – roughly $930,000 USD earmarked for luxury vehicles for lawmakers and legislative staff. Critics say this imbalance highlights misplaced priorities in a state now gripped by escalating violence.
Historical Pattern of Fulani Ethnic Militia Attacks – A Form of Islamization
During the past decade, Fulani Ethnic Militia repeatedly have targeted Christian communities. Security analysts argue these are not clashes over grazing land but a sustained campaign of Islamization through terror, combining mass killings, arson, and forced displacement.
- Agatu, Benue (2016): As many as 500 Christians were killed in one of the most infamous massacres.
- Nimbo, Enugu (2016): Over 40 killed, church destroyed in a pre-dawn assault.
- Tawari, Kogi (2020): Militants killed 29, including clergy, and razed dozens of homes.
- Plateau State (Dec 2023): Nearly 200 were killed in coordinated Christmas-season raids.
- Mangu, Plateau (May 2023): More than 100 Christians massacred in a single outbreak of violence.
Deconflicting Narratives: TruthNigeria’s Insight
Evidence suggests extremist groups such as Lakurawa (affiliated with ISIS–Sahel) and Ansaru (linked to Al-Qaeda) are probing for influence in the Southwest. Their presence in Kwara remains unconfirmed, but residents fear the southward drift of insurgent networks.
To cut through the competing narratives, TruthNigeria interviewed three security experts with decades of experience in counterterrorism. Their assessments converge on one stark conclusion: what is happening in Kwara, Kaduna, Benue, and Plateau is best understood as Islamization by force.
Dr. Chinedu Ọláníbọ̀, West Africa Security Specialist based in Abuja: “This is not herder violence, it’s calculated Islamization. When churches, homes, and lives are destroyed, Christian identity is being erased. The term Islamization precisely captures that and dodging it only empowers the aggressors.”
Amaka Okoye, former intelligence analyst and retired military personnel based in Ibadan added: “Displacement and land seizure amount to demographic warfare. Using violence to empty Christian settlements in the North Central states and repopulate them is the essence of Islamization.”
Prof. Ade Babalola, terrorism scholar based in Lagos added, “The bleaching out of Christian symbols through arson and murder is intentional ideological cleansing. Denying it lets the narrative slip into comfortable ambiguity. It undermines national security.”
Evidence From TruthNigeria’s Archives
TruthNigeria’s investigations have documented this violent pattern across multiple states:
In Kajuru, Kaduna State, Christian Adara villages such as Maro and Rubu have been repeatedly overrun. Survivors describe an endless cycle of killings and flight.
In Southern Kaduna, Fulani jihadists ambushed a bus, sparing Muslims but killing Christian passengers, including Pastor Philip Onyejefu Oigocho.
In Benue, entire towns such as Egwuma were razed despite nearby military installations. Local leaders accuse security forces of complicity or paralysis.
In June 2025, at least 262Christians were slaughtered overnight in Benue, an atrocity TruthNigeria confirmed on the ground.
A Region Teetering on Collapse
With barely ₦350 million set aside for security, and four times that spent on political perks, Kwara’s rural communities remain dangerously exposed. Leaders of the Yoruba Union warn that unless decisive action is taken, Kwara South risks sliding into the same abyss as Plateau, Benue and other states where Fulani Ethnic Militia terrorists hold sway.
“The residents of Ganmu-Alheri in Ifelodun county of Kwara state and countless other villages in the North Central now abandoned are not victims of random violence. They are on the front lines of an ideology-driven war. For them, “Islamization” is not a debate it is the brutal reality of survival, Rev. David Abayomi, a Baptist Reverend based in Ilorin, Kwara state said to TruthNigeria.
Onibiyo Segun reports on terrorism and conflicts for TruthNigeria.
