More than 30 people have been killed in Bunuland while over 70. Others are in gunmen captivity across the nothern-most district of Kabba-Bunu Local Government Area, Kogi State. In addition, an unknown number of residents have been forced out of no less than 20 Bunu communities to seek refuge in other places considered more secured.
Leaders of the district who made this known at a Press Briefing in Lokoja on Tuesday appealed to governments at all levels, the private sector, and individuals to urgently come to their rescue and safe them from the jaws of rampagong Fulani bandits in the area.
President of Bunu Development Association, Pastor Bolorunduro Johnson Kolawole, leading stakeholders from the embattled district where worshippers were recently abducted from a church, said the area is set for a humanitarian crisis.
“Our farmers are being attacked on their farmlands. Travellers are abducted on public roads. Women, children, and the elderly are fleeing ancestral homes in fear. Entire villages are gradually emptying. This is no longer a local problem. it is a humanitarian emergency and a threat to community survival.
“Despite efforts by government authorities, the scale, frequency, and persistence of these attacks indicate that current responses remain insufficient. Many communities feel increasingly vulnerable and exposed, and public confidence continues to erode. When people lose security, they lose everything: their dignity, their livelihoods, their culture,
and their future.
“As a community, we have resolved to respond lawfully, responsibly, and collectively. The Bunu Development Association is therefore advocating a coordinated, community-based security support framework, working strictly within existing government-approved vigilante and security structures.
“This initiative—known as the Bunu Youths Vanguard—is designed to support intelligence gathering, early warning systems, and community vigilance, under professional supervision and full accountability. This is not a call to lawlessness. It is a call for structured community protection aligned with the rule of law
“We are also appealing for: Strengthened and permanent security presence in high-risk areas; Improved intelligence-led operations; Humanitarian support for displaced families
Medical and welfare assistance for community defenders; transparent documentation and investigation of all attacks.”
Also speaking Evangelist Abigail Aledare of Bunu Women Development Forum, who was represented appealed to the law enforcement agencies to wipe off criminality in the area and restore confidence in the people. We are definitely in trouble even when I don’t want to say it. We can’t even go home for Christmas because of kidnappers. Many of our people, including children and women, some of them more than 80-year-old are in the bush with kidnappers.”
They listed the deserted villages to include Odo Ape, Agbede Apaa, Orinriba, Aiyetoro Kiri, Olle, Tata, Igbore, Taki, Ihale. Oferre, Giro, Aiyegunle Igun, and Okebukun,
