BREAKING: Bandits Attack Cattle Settlement In Kwara Community, Burn Vigilante Vehicle, Steal Cows

At about 6:30 a.m. on Sunday, armed bandits stormed a cattle settlement in Ekuku, Kwara State, near the border with Egbe in Yagba West Local Government Area of Kogi State.

According to intelligence reports, the attackers arrived in large numbers, stole several cows, and set a vigilante vehicle ablaze.

In a video obtained by SaharaReporters, a member of the local security team, speaking in English and Yoruba, confirmed the incident:

“Situation report: Bandits attacked us at Ekuku today. Many cows were stolen and a vigilante vehicle was burnt to ashes. This is it. A vehicle belonging to the vigilante group in Ekiti Local Government Area in Kwara State is what was burnt to ashes like this. It is what you are looking at in this video. State government, please, come to our aid; these bastards are everywhere. They are uncontrollable. Everything in this vehicle has been burnt.”

Similarly, on Saturday, SaharaReporters reported that Kwara South, a once-peaceful senatorial district in Kwara State, had been thrown into mourning and fear after armed bandits ambushed local vigilantes, killing two, leaving six missing, and setting ablaze more than 27 motorcycles belonging to community defenders in Isanlu Isin, Isin Local Government Area of the state.

The attack followed weeks of escalating insecurity in the area.

According to the Isanlu Isin Community Development Association, the crisis began with bandit raids on Fulani settlements surrounding the community, where residents were attacked, kidnapped, and forced to pay heavy ransoms.

However, many abducted individuals remain unaccounted for.

As tensions rose, Fulani settlers abandoned their homes and began occupying uncompleted buildings in the town, a situation that locals say was duly reported but ignored by authorities.

Four days before the ambush, intelligence reportedly revealed plans by the bandits to invade the town.

In response, local vigilantes, supported by counterparts from Omu-Aran, Oko, Ola, and other neighbouring communities, mobilised to defend their people. Unfortunately, they were lured into an ambush by the attackers.

Despite putting up resistance, the vigilantes suffered heavy losses. Two men were reportedly killed, six others remain missing, and their motorcycles, critical to responding to distress calls, were destroyed.

With no intervention from security agencies, the distraught residents resorted to blocking the Ilorin–Lokoja highway to draw attention to their plight.

In a statement signed by Dr. Jacob Ayanda, Vice President of the Isanlu Isin Development Association, the community made a passionate appeal to the Federal Government, the police, the army, and other relevant security agencies to intervene urgently.

They called for the replacement of the vigilantes’ motorcycles and equipment, immediate search-and-rescue operations for the missing men, and a full security operation to comb the surrounding forests now infested with armed bandits.

WATCH: Bandits Attack Cattle Settlement In Kwara Community, Burn Vigilante Vehicle, Steal Cows pic.twitter.com/KKSLz5by3d

— Sahara Reporters (@SaharaReporters) September 14, 2025