Group rejects claims of insecurity displacing voters in Kwara

A security advocacy group, Joint Security Watch Kwara South, has dismissed claims that banditry and kidnapping have rendered parts of Kwara South deserted and weakened its voter population, describing the narrative as politically motivated ahead of the 2026 governorship race.

In a statement issued on Sunday, in Abuja, the group said insecurity in the region was being exaggerated for electoral advantage and warned against what it called the “use of insecurity as a tool for political exclusion.”

Coordinator of the group, Elder Olaitan Oyin-Zubair, said the incidents of violence recorded in parts of the region were not indigenous but linked to external criminal infiltration through ungoverned spaces.

“Banditry and kidnapping in Kwara entered through ungoverned forests and weak border points. They are not indigenous to Kwara South and do not define our people,” he said.

He explained that attacks in affected communities were largely concentrated on isolated routes and settlements with limited security presence, adding that coordinated local intelligence and security operations had helped reduce their impact in several areas.

According to him, displaced residents in previously affected communities have begun returning to their farms due to improved security responses.

The group also pushed back against claims that insecurity had weakened the region’s electoral strength, citing past election performance to argue that Kwara South remains politically significant.

Oyin-Zubair referenced the 2019 and 2023 general elections, claiming that Kwara South delivered stronger support for the All Progressives Congress (APC) compared to other senatorial zones.

He said: “The region led other zones in APC performance. Kwara South recorded about 68% success compared to 35% in Kwara Central, the zone currently pushing the narrative that Kwara South lacks voting strength due to bandit attacks.”