Some community leaders across Kwara South Senatorial District have renewed calls for the temporary closure of Kara (cattle) markets as part of measures to stem the rising wave of kidnappings, killings, and displacement ravaging rural communities in the state. According to the community leaders, the temporary closure of the markets will no doubt stem the tide of insecurity in the state.
The demand comes amid worsening insecurity that has forced traditional rulers to abandon their domains, crippled farming activities, disrupted local economies, and overwhelmed security personnel in parts of Ifelodun, Ekiti, Oke-Ero, Isin, and Irepodun local government areas.
Sunday PUNCH reports that since the reversal, attacks have intensified, with communities increasingly deserted and residents fleeing to urban centres. A community leader in Omupo, Ifelodun Local Government Area of the state, Abdulraooph Bello, popularly known as Labelabe, identified cattle markets as a critical part of the logistics chain sustaining criminal networks.
These markets are part of the supply chain for bandits. They source food there, negotiate for fuel, and in some cases, even facilitate ransom payments.” Drawing parallels with counter-insurgency strategies in the North-East, Bello cited the long-standing closure of Jilli market in Borno State.
“The Borno State Government took a tough decision despite resistance. That is the kind of political will we need. Kara markets in Kwara South should be shut down for at least three months to disrupt these networks,” he said. Echoing similar concerns, a retired civil servant and farmer in Ekiti Local Government Area, Mrs Janet Adebisi, said insecurity linked to market activities had forced her to abandon her investments.
“We are not against businesses, but when markets become meeting points for criminals, something must be done. Even if it is temporary closure or strict regulation, government must act,” she said. Also, a youth leader in Oro-Ago, Tunde Aderibigbe, stressed that unregulated movement of people and goods in cattle markets has made it difficult to track criminal elements.
“Strangers come and go without any form of documentation. There is no monitoring. If the government cannot close them, then there must be strict regulation and surveillance. “There was a time the police tracked a criminal to one of these Kara markets, but they could not effect his arrest because they met stiff resistance from his father and others who began shooting.
The police had to call for back up, this should not be acceptable,” he said. Similarly, the chairman of a local vigilante group in Ifelodun LGA, who identified himself as Omowale, called for a security-led restructuring of the markets. Related News Hardship is no excuse for stealing — Okey Bakassi My brother’s kidnappers demanded N5m before going silent – Sibling Panic over abducted Redeemed, CAC pastors, families “These markets operate without coordination with security agencies.
We need intelligence presence there. Right now, criminals blend easily with traders. “You won’t even know who is who, and these people will rise up to support themselves no matter what, even if you make arrest inside the farms and handover the suspects to police, their leaders will mobilise to get them out,” he said.
“These monarchs are chosen without the laid-down process of our ancestors. They cannot speak freely because they depend on the government for legitimacy. “The monarchs are the ones who harbour these foreigners, sell land to them, appoint ‘Seriki’ for them, and collect royalties on market days,” Fabiyi claimed.