The Pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, has condemned the increasing incidents of kidnappers and bandits demanding virgins and illegal drugs as ransom for abducted victims.
In a statement issued on Saturday, March 7, 2026, Afenifere National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Jare Ajayi, highlighted the growing insecurity across several states, particularly in South-Western Nigeria.
The statement noted that terrorists had recently intensified attacks across the region and other parts of the country.
Afenifere reported that some kidnappers demanded N1.5 million, Indian hemp, cocaine, a synthetic drug known as ICE, and cartons of canned beer for the release of a corpse.
The statement also revealed that kidnappers had requested virgins in exchange for four men previously abducted.
Ajayi drew attention to the brutal treatment of victims, including merciless beatings and humiliation. He stated that some abductees die even after ransom payments are made, citing attacks on churches, police stations, individual homes, and highways. Communities in Kwara State were sacked, farmers were killed, and travellers were attacked along the Igbeti-Kisi road in Oke-Ogun, Oyo State. Kidnap cases in Ekiti State involved victims being killed while their corpses were held for ransom.
He also cited a couple attacked in front of their home in Akure, Ondo State, with the husband shot while defending his wife.
In Erinmope-Ekiti, the father of a former deputy governor of Ebonyi State was abducted while travelling to church on Sunday, March 1, and a family of five was kidnapped at 7 p.m. during evening prayers at a mosque. Bandits reportedly carried out house-to-house raids in Kubwa, Abuja, earlier in the week.
Similar attacks have been reported in Kwara, Plateau, Benue, Borno, Kebbi, Nasarawa, Niger, Katsina, and Kaduna States, while returning refugees from Cameroon were targeted in Bauchi State.
Ajayi recounted that in Edo State, kidnappers killed a medical doctor’s brother but released the doctor after ransom payment.
He noted that the doctor was able to alert the police when one of the kidnapper’s daughters fell ill, leading to the arrest of the perpetrators.
He emphasised that kidnappers value their own families’ lives while taking the lives of others.
The statement called for decisive measures to curb kidnapping, including targeting the funding sources of bandits, investigating foreign actors linked to illegal mining, and pursuing sponsors of criminal activities.
Afenifere commended President Bola Tinubu for advancing the establishment of state police and praised the Inspector-General of Police, Tunji Disu, for setting up a committee to determine modalities for state police deployment.
The organisation also urged South-West governors to raid bandit hideouts, maintain surveillance in vulnerable areas, and fully cooperate with the Federal Government to implement a state police system.
