A chilling video has surfaced from Okunran, a community in Yagba West Local Government Area of Kogi State, showing an entire settlement abandoned after a wave of violent bandit attacks. Once bustling with life, the community now lies silent, its homes deserted as residents fled for safety.
The mass displacement followed repeated raids by armed bandits, forcing locals to abandon their homes and farmlands. In the aftermath, desperate appeals have poured out from Yagba West, with residents crying for urgent government intervention. “Please, help us in Yagba West,” one displaced villager pleaded.
Tensions are particularly high as the area is home to Senator Sunday Steve Karimi, who represents Kogi West in the National Assembly and chairs the Senate Committee on Services. Locals accuse both his office and Governor Usman Ododo’s administration of failing to protect lives and property despite escalating violence.
The crisis deepened last Sunday when bandits carried out coordinated ambushes on police patrol teams in Yagba East. In one attack, ASP Umar Suleman and CPL Bitrus Isaac were killed, with the attackers carting away their rifles and ammunition. Hours later, another ambush claimed the lives of Inspectors Johnson David and Ehinola Oluwole, along with a civilian passerby.
Both attacks left security operatives dead and weapons stolen, raising fears of further escalation. Videos from the scene showed residents rushing to aid the fallen officers, though their bodies lay lifeless. Police authorities have since placed all formations on red alert and ordered heightened vigilance.
For the people of Yagba West, however, the haunting silence of Okunran is now a symbol of fear and abandonment, as banditry continues to push entire communities to the brink of collapse.
WATCH: Kogi Community Deserted As Residents Flee Bandit Attacks In Senator Karimi’s Yagba West Local Govt pic.twitter.com/mM4shOSC8d
— Sahara Reporters (@SaharaReporters) September 26, 2025
