A serene evening church service at the Christ Apostolic Church, Oke-Isegun, in Eruku town turned into a scene of carnage and mass abduction on Tuesday as rampaging bandits launched a deadly assault, killing three worshippers and seizing at least ten others.
The attack, which occurred around 6 pm on Okeado Street in the Ekiti Local Government Area, has sent shockwaves through the community, raising urgent questions about security in the state’s hinterlands.
According to community spokesman Olasukanmi Ayeni, the assailants opened fire inside the church, fatally shooting Tunde Asabe, Segun Alaja, and a man identified only as Deremi.
“The people were abducted inside the church; there are about ten, but it could be more than that. The three corpses are still inside the church as we speak,” Ayeni told the Observers Times in a telephone interview.
He added that a young girl sustained a severe gunshot wound to the neck and remains in a critical condition at a local hospital.
Ayeni revealed that the community had been living under a state of siege for weeks, with bandits making repeated attempts to infiltrate Eruku via the Eruku/Egbe and Eruku/Omuaran roads. Local hunters and vigilantes, he said, had successfully repelled these incursions until Tuesday’s breach.
He expressed deep frustration with the government’s response, alleging that desperate pleas for help went unheeded.
“All efforts we made to the state and local government when the bandits were making efforts to penetrate our community, and they were being resisted by our local hunters, were not answered. If they had answered us, this attack wouldn’t have happened,” Ayeni stated.
He further claimed that the Chairman of Ekiti Local Government, Wale Awelewa, had not visited the traumatised community as of Wednesday morning. “As we speak, the local government chairman hasn’t paid any visit to our community; it’s that bad.”
However, Ayeni praised the local police division for its collaboration with community defenders. “The police in the community have been doing a fantastic job by following our local hunters to the forests to track the hideout of the bandits and chase them away; otherwise, it would have been a worst-case scenario for us.”
The Kwara State Police Command confirmed the incident in a statement signed by its Public Relations Officer, Ejire Adetoun Adeyemi.
The statement read, “The Kwara State Police Command confirms an attempted bandit attack in Eruku, which occurred at about 18:00 hours today, 18th November, 2025. The DPO Eruku and his team of police operatives, in collaboration with vigilantes, swiftly responded to the sound of gunshots emanating from the outskirts of the town, prompting the hoodlums to flee into the bush.”
Police accounts detailed the discovery of the victims: “Upon thorough search of the area, one male victim, Mr Aderemi, was discovered fatally shot inside the Christ Apostolic Church, Oke Isegun, while another victim of a fatal gunshot, Mr Tunde Asaba Ajayi, was found in the bush. A vigilante, Segun Alaja, sustained gunshot injuries and was immediately rushed to ECWA Hospital, Eruku, for medical treatment.”
The Commissioner of Police, CP Adekimi Ojo, commended the swift response of the security forces and assured residents that efforts to “totally decimate” the hoodlums would continue.
