Defenders Likely Facing New Terrorist Arm of Boko Haram: Expert
By Onibiyo Segun
(EGBE Yagba West County, Kogi State) – Blood stained the dusty streets of Egbe at dawn on Wednesday, Sept. 10 as Fulani ethnic militia stormed a police checkpoint, dropping a hail of bullets that cut down three police officers, according to an early report of Premium Times. TruthNigeria learned that three community guards also lost their lives.
Among the dead was Samuel Kayode, a volunteer guard of the community whose life was claimed in defense of peace. A tranquil morning shattered in an instant, leaving behind grief, bullets, and stolen rifles.
Egbe is a historic Yoruba-speaking and predominantly Christian town, nestled in Yagba West County, on the western edge of Kogi State. Surrounded by undulating savannah, Egbe serves as a commercial hub, a cultural beacon, home to the Evangelical Church Winning All- ECWA Hospital, the respected Titcombe College, and the Nigeria Army’s new forward operating base.
“They were about 20 of them, brandishing guns as they attacked the check point,” said Emmanuel Adewale, a community leader in Egbe, in an interview with TruthNigeria. “They opened fire without warning. In that exchange, three officers fell, and they carted away their rifles.”
Within hours, Daily Trust mirrored this account.
Equally aggrieved, the head of the community guards, Alaba Eniola, told TruthNigeria: “It was brutal. We lost three of our own, including Samuel Kayode, who was among the first to respond to the call for help.”
The local high chief of Egbe told TruthNigeria by phone that “Egbe has never seen such a ferocious attack. Now, our sense of safety is shattered.”
A Pattern of Violence Sweeping Okun Land?
The attack appears to fit a pattern first reported by TruthNigeria in July.
In a July 2025 TruthNigeria report, diaspora support helped fund fuel, radios, stipends, and gear for community defenders across the Yoruba-speaking western counties of Kogi known as “Okun land.” The report notes that over the previous 18 months Fulani Ethnic Militia terrorists have killed, injured, or displaced numerous residents in attacks, including the March 2025 coordinated assault on Egbe, Isanlu, and Ekinrin-Adde and the kidnapping of Oba James Dada Ogunyanda in May.
Security Response and Expert Analysis
Following the ambush, Kogi State Police spokesperson William Aya confirmed the police casualties in the national media and said the tactical unit had been deployed to pursue the attackers.
Lokoja-based security expert Bili Akugba told TruthNigeria: “These are coordinated, tactical attacks, not random raids. Fulani Ethnic Militia are eroding both formal and informal security structures. We need urgent federal support: air surveillance, intelligence-sharing, and strike units,” according to Akugba.
“This clearly is the handiwork of a Boko Haram terrorist group. Probably, from those displaced in the Northwest,” he added.
Local Leadership Equips Hunters
The Honorable Tosin Olokun, Executive Chairman of Yagba West County and Chairman of Kogi State Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) told TruthNigeria: “in March 2025, we held a meeting and decided to support our local vigilantes and hunters (Community Guards) with weapons and means of transportation. My government refurbished a vehicle for the Yagba West Hunters Union, a community guard group vital in frontier defense. Then this. It points to one thing certainly. We need to do more and expand the scope. This is scary and sad,” he said.
Rising Terror in Nigeria’s Middle Belt
Mr. Samuel Kayode is remembered as a neighbor and a fearless Christian protector who loves his people. A resident, Mr. Bodunde Oladele, told TruthNigeria: “He woke early, greeted you, and checked the perimeter daily. That morning, he went to help and didn’t come back.”
What began as a mission of protection ended in irreversible loss and fractured trust in the night’s safety, but his fate illustrates the tragedy of tens of thousands.
Between 2019 and 2023, Fulani ethnic militias caused nearly 56,000 civilian deaths across Nigeria accounting for 42 percent of terror-related civilian casualties, nearly four times those attributed to Boko Haram and ISWAP combined, according to the Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa (ORFA).
This massacre of rural communities has placed Okun land among the war-torn frontlines of Nigeria’s internal strife.
Charting a Way Forward
As tactical squads pursue the killers, local hearts remain gripped by grief and fear. A multi-layered response is imperative: federal intelligence support, mobile strike teams, aerial reconnaissance backed by determined local vigilance and intelligence.
As the experts warned: “Without it, violence will metastasize beyond Okun land.”
For Egbe’s youth, the pain is personal and political. “If no action is taken, we’ll bury our defenders one by one while the government watches,” Emmanuel Adewale, the youth leader said. “Today it was Samuel Kayode and three policemen. Tomorrow, it could be any of us. Our leaders must act, or Okun land becomes a graveyard.”
Onibiyo Segun reports on terrorism and conflicts for TruthNigeria.
