The anger is particularly intense because the political trip came against the backdrop of repeated deadly attacks in Kwara North, especially in Kaiama, Baruten, Patigi and Edu Local Government Areas, where terrorists and bandits have killed residents, razed homes and palaces, and abducted women, children and members of royal households.
Despite the wave of killings, kidnappings and mass displacement that has ravaged communities across Kwara North and parts of Kwara South, traditional rulers from Kwara North were recently seen in Abuja lobbying President Bola Tinubu and leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to support the governorship ambition of the Speaker of the Kwara State House of Assembly, Yakubu Danladi Salihu.
The development has stirred concerns among residents and insiders in the state, who accused the monarchs of abandoning their primary responsibility of speaking for communities under siege and instead allowing themselves to be drawn into partisan political lobbying, even as scores of women and children remain in captivity and several communities continue to live under the shadow of armed attacks.
The anger is particularly intense because the political trip came against the backdrop of repeated deadly attacks in Kwara North, especially in Kaiama, Baruten, Patigi and Edu Local Government Areas, where terrorists and bandits have killed residents, razed homes and palaces, and abducted women, children and members of royal households.
On May 25, 2026, gunmen attacked Yashikira community in Baruten Local Government Area of Kwara State, burning part of the palace of the Emir of Yashikira and abducting 10 residents, including wives and children of the traditional ruler, Alhaji Umar Seriki.
The Kwara State Police Command confirmed the attack, saying the assailants launched a coordinated overnight assault on both the Yashikira Police Divisional Headquarters and the Emir’s palace at about 2:00 a.m.
The Yashikira attack came only months after one of the bloodiest assaults in Kwara State in recent history.
On February 4, 2026, SaharaReporters reported that dozens of people were slaughtered in Woro community in Kaiama Local Government Area of Kwara State after a coordinated attack by suspected Sahel-backed terrorists.
Among those killed in the Woro massacre were two wives of the Emir of Woro, several of his children, the Chief Imam of Woro, a school principal, a headmistress and students who had just returned from school.
SaharaReporters had reported that the Emir of Woro, Alhaji Saliu Bio Umar, was also missing after the attack but later confirmed alive.
Residents and local sources have since described a worsening humanitarian and security crisis across Kwara North, with several communities either overrun or deserted following repeated attacks by terrorists, bandits and other armed criminal groups.
Although casualty and abduction figures from the wider violence in Kaiama and surrounding areas have varied across local accounts, residents insist that the scale of the crisis goes far beyond the official public response, with women, children and entire households still trapped in captivity months after attacks on their communities.
Yet, instead of leading a high-level delegation to demand urgent federal intervention over the killings and abductions, the monarchs were seen in Abuja making political appeals over the 2027 governorship succession in Kwara State.
Meanwhile, despite the scale of the insecurity and the large number of victims still being held by their abductors, the traditional rulers were seen in a video obtained by SaharaReporters gathering in Abuja to advocate for the emergence of Hon. Yakubu Danladi Salihu as the next governor of Kwara State.
In the video, the monarchs, who were expected to meet President Tinubu, were seen addressing APC stakeholders and urging the ruling party to zone its 2027 governorship ticket to Kwara North.
The development has generated criticism from some residents who said the monarchs should have been in Abuja to press the President and security chiefs on the deteriorating security situation in Kwara North, not to lobby for political succession while communities are in mourning and abductees remain in the bush with their captors.
A source familiar with the development told SaharaReporters that Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq had reduced the traditional institution in Kwara to a partisan structure used to execute political errands rather than defend the people.
The source said the monarchs were not mobilised to Abuja to raise alarm over the killings, kidnappings and displacement in their communities, but were instead assembled for a political mission tied to the succession battle ahead of the next governorship election.
“The governor has turned Kwara traditional rulers into errand boys,” the source said.
“They were not mobilised to Abuja to meet the President over the insecurity devastating their region. They were mobilised for a partisan errand — to lobby for a governorship candidate while people are being killed and abducted back home.”
The source added that the traditional institution in Kwara had increasingly been dragged into partisan politics at a time when many communities across the state were under direct threat from terrorists and armed gangs.
“The Kwara traditional institution has been subjected to partisan political contests,” the source said.
“No delegation of traditional rulers from Kwara North or Kwara South was mobilised to Abuja when several parts of the state were under siege from bandits and criminal elements. But now they can be assembled and transported for politics.”
Another source who spoke with SaharaReporters said the silence of the traditional rulers over the continuing captivity of women and children abducted in attacks across Kwara North had become a painful issue among residents.
According to the source, many locals expected the monarchs to use their access and moral authority to pressure both the state and federal governments into mounting more aggressive rescue operations and long-term security interventions but they were all silence.
“People are shocked because some of the victims are from royal households themselves,” the source said.
“In Yashikira, the wives and children of the monarch were abducted. In Woro, the Emir’s family members were killed. Across Kaiama and Baruten, people have lost relatives, homes and livelihoods. Yet the urgency now appears to be about who becomes governor.”
The source said the violence had not been limited to Kaiama and Baruten alone.
According to the source, persistent attacks have affected Baruten, Kaiama, Patigi and Edu Local Government Areas in Kwara North, while communities in Ifelodun, Irepodun, Ekiti and Isin local government areas in Kwara South have also come under pressure from kidnappers and armed gangs.
The source also stated that in one of the affected communities, a traditional ruler in Olayinka community was killed by terrorists, further underscoring the danger facing local populations and traditional institutions alike.
“Most of the communities in Kwara North and Kwara South are living in fear. Some have been deserted. Some people can no longer sleep in their homes. Farmers have abandoned their farms. Families are scattered,” the source said.
“But instead of making insecurity the central issue, the concern now is who will become governor. That is why people are angry.”
Residents said the contradiction was too glaring to ignore: while women and children kidnapped in attacks since April remain unaccounted for, and while many families still await word on missing relatives, the political establishment appears to have moved on to succession calculations.
For many locals, the Abuja outing by the monarchs symbolised a disturbing collapse of priorities in Kwara State — a situation in which communities under attack feel abandoned by both political leaders and traditional institutions that should ordinarily serve as their voice in moments of crisis.
The optics, residents said, could not have come at a worse time.
“Insecurity has consumed our communities. People have been slaughtered. Women and children have been abducted. Villages have been emptied. Yet our royal fathers are in Abuja lobbying for governorship,” one resident said.
“That is the tragedy of Kwara today.”
On May 28, 2026, SaharaReporters reported that the Emir of Yashikira, Alhaji Saabi , whose wives and children were recently abducted by suspected terrorists, has appeared in a full-page newspaper advertisement praising President Bola Tinubu and Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq over the outcome of the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primary election in the state.
The monarch, alongside other first-class traditional rulers from Baruten Local Government Area, was listed in the advert congratulating President Tinubu and Governor AbdulRazaq for a “peaceful and successful” APC primary exercise, which reportedly resulted in the zoning of the party’s governorship ticket to Baruten LGA.
The advert has since ignited anger among residents, who accused the traditional rulers of prioritising partisan political interests at a time when communities in the area continue to grapple with worsening insecurity, kidnappings, and violent attacks.
The controversy is further deepened by the fact that the Emir of Yashikira is still reeling from a recent midnight attack on his palace, during which suspected bandits reportedly abducted members of his immediate family, including his wives and children, and set parts of the palace ablaze.
Residents of the affected communities described the public endorsement as “insensitive” and “unfortunate,” arguing that traditional rulers ought to be focusing their attention on pressure campaigns for the rescue of kidnapped victims and urgent intervention by security agencies.