Insecurity Forces Farm Abandonment as Yoruba Monarchs Flee Palaces After Wave of Abductions

Dayo Thomas

Farmlands across parts of Kwara, Kogi, Ondo, and Ekiti States lie fallow this planting season as fear of armed attacks drives farmers and traditional rulers from their domains. In a troubling escalation, over 30 Yoruba monarchs have reportedly vacated their palaces following repeated raids by suspected Fulani bandits, with the abduction of another traditional ruler today bringing the count to 11 Obas either kidnapped or killed in the last 18 months.

The latest incident underscores a deepening security crisis that is crippling rural agriculture in the Southwest and North Central. When custodians of culture and land abandon their thrones, the ripple effect hits market days, communal labor, and dispute resolution on farmlands. Extension officers in Ifelodun LGA, Kwara State, report that whole villages in Oke-Ode and Bayagan-Ile have scaled back cultivation of yam, maize, and cassava due to fear of ambush on access roads. In Yagba West, Kogi State, farmers say the abduction of the Obalohun of Okoloke has halted the community’s annual land-clearing festival, delaying the 2026 planting cycle.

The pattern has been relentless. In Ondo State, the Alagamo of Agamo in Akure North and the Olufon of Ifon were among the first casualties, followed by the traditional ruler of Ode Oriya Village in Owo LGA. Ekiti State lost the Elesun of Esun-Ekiti and the Onimojo of Imojo-Ekiti in separate attacks that sent shockwaves through the farming belt between Ikole and Oye. Kwara State has recorded the highest toll, with the Olukoro of Koro in Ekiti LGA, the Asamu of Olayinka, the Baale of Ogbayo, the Ojibara of Bayagan-Ile, and the Oniwo of Afin in Ifelodun LGA all targeted. The incident today adds another name to a roll call that has left stools vacant and subjects displaced.

AgricNews Digest investigations show that districts where monarchs have been abducted or killed are recording up to 60% reduction in cultivated hectarage. In Imojo-Ekiti, women farmers who supply gari and yam flour to Ado-Ekiti markets say they now farm only plots near homesteads. Livestock corridors in Ondo North are deserted, with Fulani and Yoruba pastoralists alike abandoning grazing routes after the killing of local chiefs who once mediated conflicts. The result is tightening food supply and rising prices in urban centers from Ilorin to Akure.

Traditional councils, state governments, and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security are under pressure to restore confidence before the next planting window closes. For now, the silence in many palaces is matched only by the silence on once-busy farms.