THE ENEMIES WITHIN: WHY IGBOHO, ÒKÈ-ÒGÙN MUST WAKE UP TO THE INFLUX OF FOREIGNERS AND INSIDE TRAITORS

Where exactly do we go from here? This is the agonizing question echoing across every household in Igboho, Oriire, and the entire Òkè-Ògùn zone this morning. As the sun rose today, the devastating news broke yet again: another innocent soul has been abducted in Igboho.

This latest hit comes while the wounds of our land are wide open and bleeding. The 49 school children, teachers, and a toddler abducted from classrooms in Oriire on May 15 are still trapped in the kidnappers’ den. Just last Tuesday, June 16, Mrs. Kuburat Omowumi and her family members were violently snatched in the Igbope axis. Despite the intense social media euphoria, the massive crowds dancing with activist Sunday Igboho, and the two-hour ultimatum issued to local settlers, the harsh reality has been laid bare by the Oyo State Police Command: the victims have ‘NOT’ been rescued. They are still in captivity. And now, another kidnapping has occurred this morning.

The siege on Òkè-Ògùn is no longer a distant threat on the news; it is a clear, present, and existential danger right at our doorsteps. But as we look towards the thick forests of the Old Oyo National Park where these bandits operate, we must confront a bitter, uncomfortable truth: The external invaders are not working alone. Òkè-Ògùn is being systematically sold out by the enemies within.

The Mirage of Ultimatums vs. The Reality of Internal Collusion
For too long, our communities have relied on reactive anger and media declarations. While Chief Sunday Igboho’s recent confrontation with local settler leaders in Igboho town highlights the deep frustration of our people, the reality on the ground shows that ultimatums alone will not secure our borders. The bandits have become emboldened, callous, and institutionalized. They are demanding astronomical ransoms, and in some instances, even after ransoms are delivered, they brutally execute the messengers and captives.

Why has the Old Oyo National Park forest axis become a sanctuary for these criminals? The answer is simple: unvetted influx and local collaboration. A recent, chilling security dossier regarding the Oriire school abductions revealed that the commander leading the gang is an indigene of the local community—a man who grew up, ate, and walked among the residents before leaking intelligence to foreign Ansaru terrorist cells to kidnap our children. This is the definition of a fifth columnist. The foreigner who doesn’t know our terrain cannot successfully kidnap a woman from her home at midnight without a local informant pointing out the house, monitoring the family’s movement, and tracking security patrols.

Time to Restructure Local Vigilance: The Òkè-Ògùn Defense Strategy
If we are to survive this onslaught, Igboho and the wider Òkè-Ògùn region must immediately transition from panic into organized, ruthless community intelligence. We must be weary of the unchecked influx of unvetted individuals into our domains, but we must be even more brutal in weeding out the traitors among our own blood.

Every local government chairman, traditional ruler, and youth leader across our 10 LGAs must enforce an immediate security over-haul:

Absolute Landlord and Tenant Profiling

Traditional rulers and family heads must completely stop leasing lands, uncompleted buildings, or forest spaces to undocumented migrants without formal profiling by the state security apparatus and local hunters. If you host an unvetted stranger, you must be held accountable for the security breach in that vicinity.
Aggressive Anti-Informant Outcasting: The community must create an intelligence network dedicated strictly to tracking local youths who live beyond their visible means or associate mysteriously with forest elements. The enemy within must be exposed, disgraced, and handed over to face the full weight of the law.
Synergy, Not Solo Heroics: Our local hunters, civil defense, and joint military forces surrounding the National Park must be fully equipped with real-time community intelligence. Every resident must become a listening post.

Conclusion: A Call to Absolute Awareness
The tears of the parents in Oriire have not dried. The anxiety over Mrs. Kuburat’s fate in Igboho is suffocating. We cannot afford to fold our arms and watch our homeland transform into a playground for radicalized bandits and kidnappers.

To Sunday Igboho, our traditional rulers, and our political leaders: the time for optics is over. The threat is inside the house. It is time to look inward, flush out the saboteurs, fortify our local vigilantes, and aggressively reclaim our spaces. Òkè-Ògùn must remain the peaceful food basket of the West, not a den for terrorists. Wake up, Igboho! The enemy is within!

David Alani Ige (The Scribe) Public Affairs Commentator & Institutional Archivist
Email: Phunshor01@gmail.com
Phone: 07039641096
Igboho, Oyo State, Nigeria