A coalition of Nupe groups in Kwara State has called on Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq to intensify security deployments across Edu and Patigi Local Government Areas following the deadly bandit attacks that left several vigilante members and residents dead in Oke-Ode, Ifelodun LGA, on Sunday.

The umbrella body, the Nupe Descendants Union (NDU), speaking alongside affiliate groups including the Patigi Emirate Development Union, Lafiagi Development Union, Shonga Emirate Development Union, Tsaragi Emirate District Association, and other Nupe community associations described the situation as "catastrophic and traumatic" for the people of Kwara North.

NDU National President Alhaji Shuaibu Sha'aba Mohammed, who leads the coalition, issued the appeal on behalf of the groups during a press briefing in Ilorin. He commended the state government for its support to security agencies and vigilantes but stressed that the current scale of insecurity now demanded urgent and extraordinary measures.

"The Oke-Ode killings have once again highlighted the vulnerability of our communities. Our people live a life of uncertainty; they cannot sleep with their eyes closed," he said.

"Lives and properties are wasted. Farmlands are no longer accessible, and commercial activities have been paralysed. The shocks are traumatic, and the economic losses are enormous," Mohammed said.

The union noted that Edu and Patigi LGAs had borne the brunt of bandit attacks in recent months, with tragic incidents including the killing of a Patigi-based pharmacist, the shutdown of the International Gbugbu Market, and the murder of a young driver at Esanti village.

It added that schools, health centres, and local businesses were shutting down due to growing fears.

The groups urged the governor to provide more logistics for security agencies and local vigilantes, improve intelligence gathering, fix rural roads that aid bandit movements, and personally visit affected communities to console grieving families.

"Your Excellency, these persistent attacks demand urgent and continuous reinforcement of both security infrastructure and community-based responses. The people of Edu and Patigi need your physical presence for consolation and reassurance," the statement added.

They also linked poor roads in Kwara North to the ease of banditry, stressing that the Patigi-Gbugbu-Lafiagi-Tsaragi-Bacita road had become a death trap where attackers operate freely on motorcycles.

Arewa PUNCH reports that the call came less than 24 hours after gunmen invaded Oke-Ode, killing the Baale of Ogbayo and several vigilante members in a dawn raid, that shook the state.

The attack also follows a string of abductions and killings in Edu, Patigi, Moro, and Ifelodun LGAs in recent weeks, underlining the growing wave of insecurity in Kwara North.