₦airaland Forum

The claim by online publisher and African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate in the January 16, 2027 election, Omoyele Sowore, that Igbokoda is in Ese-Odo Local Government Area (LGA) of Ondo State has caused a stir, with many questioning his knowledge of the geography of his home state.

On Monday October 5, a Nigerian Air Force ATR-42 military aircraft crashed into a swamp in Igbokoda, Ilaje LGA of Ondo State, killing all 25 people on board.
In a post on X, Sowore, who hails from Ondo State, disclosed that he visited the crash site on Friday, four days after the accident.

"I took a Marine Police boat to the scene of the tragic Nigerian Air Force ATR-42 aircraft crash in Igbokoda, Ese-Odo Local Government Area of Ondo State, to personally assess the situation," Sowore posted on his verified X handle @sowore.
The post by Sowore, a native of Kiribo, in Ese-Odo which borders Ilaje LGA, caused a stir on the Internet as netizens questioned his knowledge of his native Ondo State."

Responding, one X user @okorisag posted, "'Igbokoda, Ese-Odo local government.' A presidential candidate who isn't familiar with his state and local government. Is Igbokoda not in Ilaje Local Government? This shows you aren't a grassroots politician and are not really doing the necessary work to win, but are just enjoying the visibility that comes with contesting."
Another X user @astracoth posted,
"He’s not even familiar with his own area LGAs but want to govern Nigeria."
Yet another X user, @Piousab posted, "Disgraceful that a presidential candidate and acclaimed son of the soil does not know that Igbokoda is in Ilaje Local Govt and not Ese-Odo LGA. You are just a Content Creator/SUG President."
@WF_Sunky posted, "Igbokoda is in Ilaje. It is Igbekebo that’s in Ese-Odo LGA."
A chieftain of the National Democratic Party (NDC) accused the AAC presidential candidate of copying his own presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi.
He said, "This is what happens when you are not original, trying to copy others. Two days after the crash, Obi visited the Nigerian Air Force headquarters in Abuja, to condole with the NAF leadership and sign the condolence register.
"Not to be outdone, Sowore, who is from the same Ondo State, decides to raise the bar by visiting the site in a police marine boat. The same Police he has been calling ',useless'.
"Comically, Sowore posts that he visited the crash site in Igbokoda, Ese-Odo LGA, instead of Ilaje LGA. A man who studied Geography at the University of Lagos, yet doesn't understand the geography of a twin LGA in his home state, is taking about leading Nigeria, a county of 774 LGAs," declared the party chieftain, stressing, "this is a joke carried too far."

20 NYSC Members Rescued: Separating The Facts From Sahara Reporters’ Narrative by bbamusa(op): 5:03pm On Oct 08
The release of the 20 prospective National Youth Service Corps members abducted in Imo State has once again exposed the danger of rushing to sensational conclusions in reporting security operations. While Sahara Reporters has amplified a family’s claim that millions of naira were paid to the kidnappers, the official account from the Nigeria Police Force is clear: the victims were rescued through sustained and coordinated search-and-rescue operations involving the country’s security agencies. The police said the victims were recovered at Amakohia Ubi Village in Imo State on October 7.

Rather than presenting the security operation as the central development, the Sahara Reporters narrative places considerable emphasis on an alleged N6 million ransom payment. That approach risks creating the impression that the terrorists ultimately succeeded in dictating the terms of the release. Yet reports from multiple independent media organisations confirm that the victims were recovered in an operation involving the Department of State Services, the military and the police. The Cable, Premium Times and other outlets separately reported the role of security operatives in securing their freedom.

The distinction matters. Families understandably operate under extraordinary emotional pressure when their loved ones are held hostage. A mother desperately trying to secure the life of her child may understandably believe that money paid during negotiations was responsible for the eventual release. But such an account, without independently established evidence connecting the payment to the release, should not automatically supersede the official account of a coordinated security operation.

The Nigerian security forces had been pursuing the abductors from the moment the 20 graduates were taken along the Owerri-Onitsha Road. Earlier reports indicated that security agencies had located the suspected hideout but were forced to exercise caution because of intelligence suggesting that improvised explosive devices had been planted around the area. The decision to avoid a reckless assault demonstrated the difficult balance between eliminating the threat and protecting the lives of the hostages.

The eventual operation culminated in the recovery of the victims at Amakohia Ubi Village. According to the police, the operation involved sustained search-and-rescue efforts by the Nigeria Police Force and other security agencies. Other reports identified the DSS, Nigerian Army, Nigerian Air Force, Nigerian Navy and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps among the agencies involved. The victims were subsequently taken for medical assessment and treatment at a DSS facility in Owerri.

This is why the tendency by some platforms to reduce every successful hostage recovery to a ransom transaction deserves scrutiny. Sahara Reporters, in particular, has frequently attracted criticism over the presentation of contentious claims as definitive narratives. In a sensitive security matter involving vulnerable victims, journalism should separate what a distressed relative believes happened from what investigators and security agencies have independently established.

The facts available so far do not justify dismissing the role of Nigeria’s security forces. Indeed, the presence of senior security officials at the medical facility following the rescue further underlines the institutional involvement in the operation. The NYSC Director-General, Brigadier-General Olakunle Oluseye Nafiu, visited the rescued prospective corps members alongside the Imo State Commissioner of Police, the DSS Director and the Commander of the 34 Artillery Brigade.

There is also an important difference between ransom negotiations and proof that ransom secured a hostage’s release. Kidnappers may demand money, families may attempt to negotiate, and relatives may even raise or deliver funds without establishing that the eventual release was caused by the payment. Until security agencies or an independent investigation establishes the circumstances conclusively, presenting the N6 million claim as the definitive explanation for the rescue is premature.

What should therefore receive greater attention is the professional effort that brought the young Nigerians out of captivity alive. Twenty graduates who had been travelling to serve their country were located, recovered and taken to safety after seven days in captivity. Security agencies have also reportedly continued efforts to identify and apprehend those responsible for the abduction.

Several traditional rulers in Katsina State have commended the Military, Department of State Services (DSS) and local vigilante groups for foiling another attempt by armed bandits to carry out a mass abduction in Bakori Local Government Area of the state.


he state government had the penultimate week hailed the security agencies for foiling a mass abduction of persons in Gidan Iyado, Kakumi Ward of the same LGA. The state government disclosed that 18 bandits were killed by a combined security team of the military, DSS and the community watch corps.

Speaking on Thursday, the district head of a major town in Bakori LGA thanked the security agencies and local vigilantes for foiling another mass abduction in the LGA.

"We thank the Almighty Allah for the continued collaboration amongst the security agencies, traditional institutions and local communities. This has helped to stop criminal elements from attacking farming communities in our domain," he said.

Another district head disclosed that armed bandits, allegedly led by one Rabiu and operating from the camp of Alhaji Musa Duki in Mununu Forest, Faskari LGA of Katsina State, attempted to abduct residents of Unguwan Hudu village in Kakumi Ward, Bakori LGA.

The traditional ruler said the attempt was thwarted following intelligence received by the DSS, which prompted security operatives to block the route of the bandits.

He continued, "Apparently suspecting that a security operation had condoned off their attack route to the town, the bandits aborted their mission and fled. In the process, they abandoned 18 kidnap victims in their custody. The victims comprised 14 females and four males, including children and toddlers."

He continued, "From the trail of blood along their fleeing path, it is believed that at least seven of the fleeing bandits sustained gunshot injuries," stressing, "One of the rescued victims, 14-year-old Zainab Ashiru, also sustained a gunshot injury and was admitted at the General Hospital, Bakori."

The Thursday operation came less than two weeks after security forces foiled an attempt by bandits to kidnap residents of Gidan Iyado, Kakumi Ward, in the same Bakori LGA.

"We are happy with this string of successful operations. Apart from the fact that it is turning the tide against these criminals, it shows the growing collaboration between security agencies and community-based security groups to disrupt the activities of criminal elements operating across communities in Katsina State," one of the traditional rulers declared.

https://share.google/szvYs8J2HE8rB8nk0