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Security News: Nigerian Police Ran Away, Bandits Grabbed Abandoned Rifles Before Striking Victims in Kwara
The Kwara attack. .‘Police Ran Away, Bandits Grabbed Abandoned Rifles Before Striking Us’ – Insider at Yashikira Emir’s Palace Contradicts Official Version of Kwara Attack
NEWS
The Nigerian Record
6/3/20262 min read
Security News
‘Police Ran Away, Bandits Grabbed Abandoned Rifles Before Striking Us’ – Insider at Yashikira Emir’s Palace Contradicts Official Version of Kwara Attack
An insider at the Emir’s palace in Yashikira, located in the Baruten Local Government Area of Kwara State, has accused police officers of deserting their station during a midnight raid by suspected bandits, leaving behind AK-47 rifles that the assailants later snatched.
Speaking exclusively to this news outlet on Tuesday evening, the palace source offered a starkly different account from the one put out by the Kwara State Police Command, which had claimed that officers fought back and thwarted the attack on the divisional headquarters.
According to the insider, the armed group stormed the community with heavy weaponry, causing security personnel to abandon their positions.
The source also voiced alarm over the loss of firearms during the incident, stating that the police withdrawal left the entire community dangerously exposed.
“Are the Nigerian police truly prepared to confront bandits? The moment they heard about the attackers’ approach, they vacated the station,” the source said.
“They left the police station behind. The bandits walked in and carted away every AK-47 rifle they found there.”
The insider flatly rejected the police’s claim that the attack was repelled, insisting there was no armed resistance from officers at the station.
“Yes, the bandits entered the station and took all the weapons because the police had fled their posts,” the source added.
The allegations come on the heels of an official statement from the Kwara State Police Command confirming that Yashikira came under attack in the early hours of Sunday, May 24, 2026. The statement noted that the assailants targeted both the Emir’s palace and the police divisional headquarters.
Police said the attackers set part of the palace ablaze and kidnapped ten residents, but asserted that officers on duty successfully pushed back the assault on the police station.
In a statement signed by the command’s spokesperson, SP Adetoun Ejire-Adeyemi, the incident was described as “cowardly and audacious.” She added that the Commissioner of Police, CP Adekimi Ojo, had ordered a full-scale tactical operation involving multiple security agencies to rescue the kidnapped victims and arrest the perpetrators.
“The armed criminals carried out a coordinated and desperate assault at about 2:00 a.m., simultaneously hitting the Yashikira Police Divisional Headquarters and the Emir’s palace,” the statement read.
“However, the attack on the police station was successfully repelled by police operatives on duty.”
The command also said security efforts had been stepped up in vulnerable parts of Baruten Local Government Area, including intelligence gathering and bush-combing operations, aimed at restoring public confidence and securing the release of the abducted residents.
But the palace source maintained that the reality on the ground was very different, insisting that the police station faced little or no resistance.
Efforts by this news outlet to reach the Kwara State Police Command spokesperson, SP Ejire-Adeyemi, for a response to the palace source’s allegations were unsuccessful. She did not answer calls to her mobile phone nor reply to a text message seeking comment.