By Onibiyo Segun
Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria—“The terrorists are coming closer to us, and we’re going to send them back,” Ooni of Ife, Ọba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi warned.
“Yes, we have discovered that,” the Ooni of Ife declared on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’ when asked whether intelligence confirms a gradual movement of terrorists into southern Nigeria.
At a gathering of Southwest governors and traditional rulers in Iperu-Remo, Ogun State, Southwest Nigeria, the Ooni and co-chairman of the National Council of Traditional Rulers of Nigeria said intelligence from traditional institutions indicates “a steady, alarming movement” of armed Fulani militants toward Yoruba territories.
He emphasized that community security structures, forest hunters and vigilantes “will face it head-on,” insisting: “We’ve never been conquered and it won’t start in this generation.”
Fulani Ethnic Militia Spread Into Southwest
TruthNigeria’s verified field reports show that Fulani Ethnic Militia (FEM) networks have already infiltrated the Southwest. Since January 2025, at least 312 civilians have been killed, several hundred kidnapped, and dozens of farming communities displaced.
Cells have been identified in Ondo, Ekiti, Osun, Ogun and Oyo states, with victims describing coordinated kidnappings, ransom camps, and violent raids that mirror patterns earlier seen in the Middle Belt.
Experts React: Nigerian Military ‘dangerously overstretched’
Dr. David Shuaibu, a National Security Analyst based in Akure told TruthNigeria that the Nigerian military is “dangerously overstretched,” with troop numbers far below what is needed for simultaneous wars across the Northwest, Middle Belt, FCT outskirts, and now the creeping infiltration of the Southwest.”
He warned that “exhausted forces are reacting to attacks instead of preventing them, giving terrorists an operational edge.”
Colonel (Rtd.) Mary Ogbodo, a former Military Intelligence Officer told TruthNigeria, “Fulani Ethnic Militia terrorists (FEM) fighters now operate like structured insurgent battalions. Complete with forest bases, reconnaissance units and logistics lines.”
She added that “troop morale is low, sabotage within security agencies persists, and the federal government must urgently seek foreign technical, surveillance and intelligence support before the crisis grows into a southern insurgency.”
Dr. Abubakar Aldo, a Counterterrorism Scholar also told TruthNigeria, “Nigeria’s strategy must dramatically change because the terrorists are evolving faster than the military command structure.”
Dr. Aldo warned that “porous Sahelian borders have allowed weapons, fighters and ideology to seep downward, and Fulani Ethnic Militia terrorists (FEM) must be legally designated as a terrorist organization.
“Without fast, intelligence-driven operations, southern forests will become new theatres of war,” he said.
Why the Ooni’s Warning Matters for Nigeria’s Future
Security officials say the Ooni’s statement is not symbolic, it is a strategic alert at a moment when militants are exploiting weak borders, rural poverty, and overstretched security forces. The Southwest’s relative stability is now fragile. If infiltration continues, experts warn entire forest belts from Ogun to Ekiti could become insurgent corridors similar to Kaduna, Niger and parts of Plateau.
Bottom Line
According to a military strategist based in Ibadan, Sunday John-Aofin, “Nigeria is at an inflection point: traditional rulers are raising alarms, security data confirms rising attacks, and experts say the country lacks the manpower, motivation and strategy to stop an expanding insurgency. Without immediate restructuring including foreign assistance, aggressive intelligence operations, fortified borders and community-driven security, the Southwest could become the next epicenter of a nationwide war with extremist militias.”
Onibiyo Segun reports on terrorism and conflicts for TruthNigeria.
